Library  of  the  Theological  Seminary 

PRINCETON         o       NEW    JERSEY 


Donation  of 

John  M.  Krebs 

1860 

BR52.5  -A6  1859  i 

Alexander,  James  W.  (Janies  Waddel), 
1804-1859.  i 

Revival  and  its  lessons  :  a  collection  of  fuj:' 


THE 


EEYIYAL  AND  ITS  LESSONS 


A  COLLECTION  OP  FUGITIVE  PAPERS, 
HAVING  REFERENCE  TO  THE  GREAT  AWAKENING 


BY 


JAMES  W.  ^ALEXANDER,  D.D. 


NEW-YORK : 

ANSON    D.    F.   KANDOLPH,    683    BROADWAY. 

1859. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  In  the  year  1S5S,  by 

ANSON     D .    F.    RANDOLPH, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New- York. 


JOHN   A.   GRAY, 
PRINTER    AND    STEREOTYPE!: 

16  &  IS  Jacob  Street,  N.  Y. 


coisrTEisrTS. 


Preface. 
I. — The  Revival. 
IL — Seek  to  save  Souls. 
III. — Pray  for  the  Spirit. 
rV. — The  Una  wakened. 
y. — Harden  not  tour  Hearts. 
YL— Varieties  in  Anxious  Inquiry. 
VII. — Looking  unto  Jesus. 
YIII. — God  be  merciful  to  me  a  Sinner  I 
IX. — 0  FOR  more  Feeling  ! 
X. — Have  I  come  to  Christ? 
XL — My  Teacher — My  Master. 
XXL — My  Brother. 
XIII. — Sing  Praises. 
XrV.— The  Harvest  of  New-York. 
XY. — Compel  them  to  come  in. 
XYL — Help  the  Seaman. 
XYIL— To  Firemen. 


PREFACE 


The  short  papers  here  for  the  first  time  gathered, 
had  a  certain  measure  of  acceptance,  less  from  their 
ovm  merit,  than  from  their  having  been  struck  off 
during  the  prevalence  of  an  unusual  interest  in  divine 
things.  For  the  most  part  they  were  penned  in  the 
intervals  of  a  hurried  life,  with  the  hope  that  scrip- 
tural instruction  of  the  simplest  kind  might  gain  a 
hearing,  at  a  time  when  every  one's  attention  was 
drawn  to  the  work  of  God  in  the  land. 

The  occasion  may  be  fitly  seized  for  a  brief  retro- 
spect of  the  scenes  through  which  we  have  been  led, 
and  which,  to  a  certain  extent,  surround  us  still ;  for 
we  would  fain  speak  of  this  Revival  of  Religion,  not 
as  past,  but  as  present. 

The  greatest  commercial  alarm  which  our  country 
ever  experienced  took  place  in  the  summer  and  autumn 
of  the  year  1857.  It  is  unnecessary  to  rehearse  what 
is  imprinted  on  the  hearts  of  thousands,  or  to  open 
wounds  which  are  still  bleeding.  Besides  the  great 
numbers  who  were  utterly  ruined,  there  were  ten  times 
as  many  whose  earthly  destinies  seemed  to  be  in  libra- 
tion.  If  we  were  to  look  no  further  than  to  the  wear 
and  tear  of  mind  and  brain,  caused  by  pecuniary  ap- 
prehensions and  troubles  in  business,  such  as  drove 
some  to  despair  and  madness,  the  evil  could  not  be 
leckoncd  at  the  rate  of  millions  of  gold  and  silver. 


6  PREFACE. 

The  writer  returned  to  his  native  country  after  a  short 
absence,  to  find  as  it  were  a  pall  of  mourning  over 
every  house.  Visitations  of  this  kind — the  remark  is 
common  concerning  pestilence — often  produce  a  hard- 
ening eflfect.  In  the  present  instance,  it  pleased  God, 
in  his  marvellous  loving-kindness,  by  the  ploughshare 
of  his  judgments  to  furrow  the  ground  for  precious 
seed  of  salvation,  and  to  make  distresses  touching 
worldly  estate  to  awaken  desire  for  durable  riches  and 
righteousness.  Out  of  the  eater  came  forth  meat  and 
outr  of  the  strong  came  forth  sweetness.  From  the 
very  heart  of  these  trials  emerged  spiritual  yearnings, 
thirstings,  and  supplications  after  the  fountain  of  living 
waters.  We  can  not  always  trace  the  sequence  of 
events,  but  it  is  certain  that  the  meetiDgs  for  prayer, 
which  noted  the  dawn  of  this  great  Revival,  had  their 
beginning  while  we  were  still  amidst  the  throes  of  our 
commercial  distress. 

It  is  believed  that  the  first  of  those  daily  prayer- 
meetings  which  have  now  become  general,  was  held 
on  the  twenty-third  day  of  September,  in  the  year  just 
named.  The  place  thus  honored  was  the  Consistory- 
room  of  the  North  Dutch  Church  at  the  corner  of  Wil- 
liam and  Fulton  streets.  The  simple  pious  thought  of 
Jeremiah  Lamphier,  and  a  few  like-minded  servants  of 
God,  was  to  gather  a  handful  of  business  men,  at  the 
hourt)f  noon,  to  confer,  to  read  the  Word,  to  sing,  and 
to  cry  unto  God  for  the  outpouring  of  his  Holy  Spirit. 
But  Revival  was  already  begun.  God  had  already 
poured  out  the  Spirit  of  grace  and  of  supplications.  Vro 
doubt  not  there  was  a  simultaneous  efi'usion,  on  other 


PREFACE.  7 

groups  and  in  other  places.  Prayers  long  treasured 
up  were  beginning  to  receive  copious  answer ;  prayers, 
of  which  some,  we  have  thought,  may  have  been  offer- 
ed by  those  venerable  ministers  of  Holland,  whose 
portraitures  still  adorn  the  walls  of  the  Consistory- 
room.  It  has  been  questioned  who  first  conceived  the 
project  of  these  meetings.  The  problem  is  unprofit- 
able ;  human  plans  looked  forward  to  no  such  results ; 
let  God  have  the  glory ! 

It  is  not  the  place  for  a  history,  nor  shall  any  thing 
of  the  kind  be  now  attempted.*  Suffice  it  to  say,  this 
meeting  so  grew  in  numbers  and  interest  as  to  de- 
mand increase  of  accommodation.  Daily  prayer-meet- 
ings had  not  been  altogether  unknown,  during  periods 
of  unusual  awakening;  but  here  was  a  large  congre-, 
gation  of  worshippers,  almost  all  men  of  business, 
near  the  very  centre  of  trade,  day  after  day,  and — as  ' 
the  event  has  proved — without  abatement  for  a  twelve- 
month. The  great  attraction  was  Prayer.  The  great 
business  was  intercession.  This,  as  springing  fi-om 
the  "love  of  the  Spirit"  seems  especially  pleasing  to 
God,  who  answers  us  more  signally  when  we  seek 
the  good  of  others.  As  the  meeting  went  on,  solicitude 
for  the  conversion  of  sinners  unto  God  became  more 
apparent.  Requests  bearing  this  character  were  great- 
ly multiplied.  From  curiosity,  from  inward  anguish, 
from  vague  alarm,  from  the  mingled  motives  in  which 
religious  concern  has  its  beginnings,  numbers  of 
worldly  visitors  entered  the  doors.     Conversion  after 

*  Ample  histories  of  the  Revival  may  be  espected  from  the  com- 
peteat  pens  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Prime  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Chambers. 


8  TREFACE. 

conversion  was  reported.  Men  who  had  felt  the  empti- 
ness of  earthly  things,  and  smarted  under  losses,  came 
hither  for  consolation.  Ministers  of  the  Gospel  often 
embraced  the  opportunity  to  address  the  words  of 
truth  to  assemblies  singularly  prepared  to  drink  in 
every  syllable.  Other  similar  prayer-meetings  were 
established  in  New- York,  of  which  some  are  continued 
till  this  day.  During  a  brief  period,  Burton's  Theatre, 
opposite  to  the  City  Hall,  and  capable  of  holding  three 
thousand  persons,  was  converted  into  a  place  of  prayer, 
and  was  crowded.  Other  cities  and  towns  speedily  en- 
tered into  the  same  labor  of  love,  until  the  daily  prayer- 
meetings  of  the  land  might  be  numbered  by  hundreds. 
The  longest  continuance  of  devotional  interest,  in  im- 
mense assemblies  for  prayer,  has  probably  been  wit- 
nessed in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  There  also  has 
been  seen  the  phenomenon  of  a  widely-spread  awaken- 
ing among  the  Firemen,  so  that  the  houses  occupied  by 
their  engines  and  associations  have  not  unfrequently 
resounded  with  the  voice  of  prayer  and  praise.  The 
attention  of  the  churches  of  Christ  throughout  the 
land  was  naturally  attracted  to  the  spectacle  of  thou- 
sands, including  the  busiest  and  hitherto  the  most 
worldly,  flocking  to  the  most  imadorned  exercises  of 
devotion.  It  ought  not  to  be  withheld  that  many  of 
these  services  are  maintained  without  diminution  of 
vigor  to  the  moment  of  this  writing.  Meanwhile 
churches  of  every  religious  denomination  received  re- 
markable increase.  The  statistics  of  conversion  are 
sometimes  unsafe ;  where  there  is  so  much  room  for 
mistake  and  exaggeration,  it  may  be  wisest  to  venture 


PREFACE.  9 

no  figures.  "  The  Lord  thy  God  add  unto  his  people, 
how  many  soever  they  be,  an  hundred  fold !"  The 
report  of  this  gracious  visitation  has  gone  abroad  to 
other  Lands,  where  true  Christians  have  been  led  to  in- 
quire with  avidity  into  the  origin,  nature,  and  sequel 
of  a  reformation  so  unprecedented. 

The  Church  of  Christ,  and  our  American  portion 
of  it,  can  not  be  unmindful  of  frequent  refreshings  in 
former  days.  Each  of  these,  if  the  means  of  studying 
them  were  at  hand,  would  doubtless  be  found  to  have 
peculiarities  of  its  own;  arising  from  acknowledged 
diversities  in  the  sovereign  dispensation  of  the  Spirit. 
The  present  revival  of  religion  has  some  characteristics, 
which  ought  not  to  escape  our  observation. 

The  work  of  grace,  in  which  we  rejoice,  was  not  the 
result  of  any  human  project,  concerted  arrangement, 
or  prescribed  plan.  It  was  not  an  excitement  foreseen, 
predicted,  and  made  to  order.  So  far  from  this,  it 
stands  out  among  kindred  reformations,  as  differing 
from  them  all.  No  man  pretends  to  have  ever  seen 
the  like.  And  this  it  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to 
record,  for  the  silence  of  such  as  stigmatize  the  entire 
proceedings  as  the  creations  of  ingenious  artifice  work- 
ing upon  overheated  fancy. 

Equally  incontestable  is  it,  that  this  great  interest  in 
things  divine  and  eternal,  did  not  "come  with  observ- 
ation." There  had  been  no  pomp  of  preparation.  In- 
deed the  foregoing  season  was  one  of  remarkable 
aridity  and  dearth ;  so  that  multitudes  of  the  younger 
professing  Christians  had  never  seen  what  is  called  a 
Revival.     And  even  when  the  holy  elevation  of  feeling 


10  PREFACE. 

was  at  its  height,  it  was,  in  the  circle  open  to  our  sur- 
vey, entirely  free,  on  one  hand,  from  the  machinery 
of  religious  manoeuvre,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  from 
manifestations  of  an  unruly  enthusiasm.  An  excep- 
tion here  and  there,  out  of  thousands,  lamented,  sup- 
pressed, and  never  propagating  itself,  in  no  degree 
impairs  the  force  of  the  assertion  just  made.  Decorous 
stillness,  reverent  waiting  upon  God,  and  a  tender 
sense  of  the  heavenly  presence,  have  marked  many 
of  these  delightful  assemblages. 

Very  striking  is  the  truth,  that  this  was  an  awaken- 
ing of  graces,  primarily  among  the  people  of  God.  In 
this  view  it  is  most  properly  denominated  a  Revival. 
The  influence  began  in  the  heart  of  the  Church.  Even 
after  conversions  were  greatly  multiplied,  this  charac- 
teristic was  prominent.  The  daily  meeting  was  of 
disciples.  Those  who  came  together  were  in  the  first 
instance,  believers.  Experienced  pastors  have  observed 
that  in  the  progress  of  this  work  of  grace.  Christians 
of  long  standing  have  had  the  inward  growth  remark- 
ably quickened,  have  renewed  their  first  exercises,  re- 
considered their  evidences,  ascertained  the  foundation 
under  them,  and  attained  to  new  sorrows  and  new 

joys. 

It  was,  eminently,  a  revival  of  Prayer.  Desires  to 
approach  God,  jointly,  in  importunate  supplication, 
were  awakened.  This  was  perhaps  the  leading  charac- 
teristic. It  was  repeatedly  noticed,  that  assemblies 
were  more  interested  in  the  prayers  than  the  address- 
es. They  came  together,  not  to  hear  learned,  elegant, 
or  eloquent  appeals,  but  to  unite  in  prayer.      Even 


PREFACE.  11 

addresses  to  impenitent  sinners,  though  often  inter- 
mingled, did  not  constitute  the  business  in  hand ;  it 
was  prayer.  Never  was  this  so  strikingly  the  case. 
Never  have  we  known  such  honor  conferred  upon 
God's  ordinance  of  prayer.  And  the  mode  oi  prayer 
which  prevailed,  as  has  already  been  hinted,  was  In- 
tercession. Every  relation  of  life  has  appeared  in 
tender,  touching  request.  The  applications  for  such 
intercessory  address  have  been  numberless ;  and  if  not 
always  seasonable  or  judicious,  they  have  generally 
been  affecting.  They  have  been  transmitted  hundreds 
of  miles,  and  from  all  parts  of  the  land. 

Perhaps  no  fact,  among  all  those  by  which  this  re- 
vival manifested  itself,  is  more  encouraging  than  that 
Christians  of  different  names  were  in  visible  union. 
That  fraternity  which  had  been  sought  with  less  suc- 
cess by  separate  means,  was  here  seen  to  flow  naturally 
from  concert  in  prayer,  under  the  influences  of  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  thus  indicating  it  may  be  the  source  from 
which  we  are  to  expect  the  sublime  unity  of  a  coming 
day.  Except  where  some  unscriptural  and  exclusive 
pretensions  have  been  trampled  on,  it  has  not  been 
heard  that  any  branch  of  the  Christian  Church  has 
uttered  complaint.  There  has  been  no  compromise  of 
tenets,  except  as  to  the  utterance  of  disputed  points 
upon  the  common  ground.  In  our  country  at  least 
there  has  never  been  so  open  an  acknowledgment  of 
varying  Christians  by  one  another  ;  it  is  indeed  second 
only  to  that  joint  participation  at  the  Lord's'  Table, 
which  bigotry  still  resists,  but  which  is  the  true  and 
appointed  sign  of  the  Communion  of  Saints. 


12  PKEFACE. 

From  the  beginning  of  these  gracious  communica- 
tions, ministers  of  the  Gospel  have  cheerfully  stood  by 
and  seen  the  principal  share  of  labor  in  the  hands  of 
their  lay  brethren.  The  meetings  for  prayer  were 
instituted,  and  to  a  great  extent  have  been  conducted, 
by  laymen.  It  can  never  be  alleged  that  this  has 
been  an  enthusiasm  stirred  up  by  the  clergy.  That 
feelings  of  jealousy  should  ever  arise  between  the  two 
classes  of  laborers,  is  earnestly  to  be  deprecated. 
Among  any  leading  minds,  we  rejoice  to  believe  that 
it  does  not  exist. 

The  observation  has  been  often  made,  and  with  the 
greatest  truth,  that  among  the  instruments  of  this 
awakening  no  prominence  has  been  given  to  particular 
men,  or  distinguished  gifts  of  learning  and  eloquence. 
It  is  true,  the  stated  ministrations  of  the  sanctuary 
have  gone  on  as  heretofore,  perhaps  with  less  increase 
of  preaching  than  h&s  sometimes  been  known  ;  diver- 
sities existing  however  even  on  this  poinj;.  But  there 
has  not  been  the  slightest  tendency,  so  far  as  appears, 
to  magnify  any  special  human  agency,  or  to  lean  upon 
what  is  often  alleged  to  be  the  inordinate  strength  of 
public  exhortation.  This  is  stated  in  the  way  of  sim- 
ple narration,  without  comment  or  inference. 

In  connection  with  preachers  and  preaching,  it  is 
proper  to  add,  that  the  present  revival  of  religion  has 
been  singularly  exempt  from  what  may  be  called  a 
dogmatical  aspect,  and  especially  from  a  controversial 
spirit  in  regard  to  doctrine.  Seasons  of  religious  ex- 
citement have  been  known  to  us,  in  which  great  stress 
has  been  laid  on  certain  tenets,  as  well  the  false  as  the 


PKEFACE.  13 

true ;  and  in  which  these  have  even  been  regarded  as 
inseparable  from  the  gracious  influence.  Nothing  of 
the  kind  has  been  whispered  in  the  late  period  of 
serious  inquiry.  Doctrines,  as  held  by  believers  of 
different  persuasions,  have  been  set  forth  and  incul- 
cated in  preaching  and  catechising,  but  not  we  believe 
in  the  spirit  of  the  Shibboleth. 

Two  great  truths  have  been  made  exceedingly  pro- 
minent, in  every  stage  of  the  revival ;  the  influence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  free  salvation  through  the  right- 
eousness of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  former  of 
these  has  been  recognized  by  every  act  of  prayer,  in 
those  meetings  which  chiefly  revealed  the  general  in- 
terest of  Christian  people.  The  other  has  stood  forth 
in  vivid  illumination,  in  all  addresses  to  convinced 
souls.  If  any  one  formula,  above  all  others,  can  be 
said  to  convey  the  spirit  of  the  teaching  which  has 
prevailed,  it  is  this :  Come  to  Christ.  And  it  is  a 
fact  worthy  of  note,  that  no  single  publication  has  had 
wider  currency  than  Mr.  Newman  Hall's  "  Come  to 
Jesus." 

When  we  consider  how  extensively  the  hearts  of 
professing  Christians  have  been  moved,  in  every  part 
pf  the  country ;  how  densely  the  volume  of  prayer  has 
gone  from  this  body  of  saints ;  how  in  many  of  them 
there  has  been  a  renewal  and  deepening  of  experience, 
by  the  opening  of  hidden  fountains  within  tl\em  ;  we 
can  not  resist  the  persuasion  that  all  this  great  work 
is  after  all  one  of  preparation.  The  Lord  appears  to 
be  preparing  his  armaments  and  marshaling  his  hosts 
for  new  conquests.     Instead,  therefore,  of  sitting  down, 

9 


14  PREFACE. 

as  if  the  season  of  blessing  had  come  to  an  end,  it 
would  be  more  consonant  with  the  divine  dealings,  if 
we  should  regard  it  as  only  begun.  The  summons  is 
unquestionably  to  renewed  faith,  intercession,  and 
labor. 

The  rumor  of  what  God  has  done  for  us  has  gone 
into  other  lands,  and  believers  there  have  inquu-ed 
with  eagerness  into  the  state  of  the  facts,  the  means 
which  have  been  used,  and  the  likelihood  of  benefit 
from  adapting  our  means  to  their  condition.  Our 
brethren  abroad  have  probably  been  prone  to  ascribe 
to  our  churches  an  absolute  advancement  in  piety 
much  beyond  the  truth.  The  principle  should  never 
bo  forgotten,  that  while  the  great  laws  of  the  divine 
government  and  the  dispensation  of  grace  remain  the 
same,  the  Supreme  Giver  varies  his  modes  of  bounty, 
with  reference  to  differences  of  country  and  period. 
Apostolic  awakenings  were  in  some  things  unlike 
those  of  the  Reformation  day.  The  quiet,  spring-like 
renewal  of  vital  godliness,  under  Spener,  Francke,  and 
the  Pietists,  bore  little  external  resemblance  to  the 
prodigious  revolution  under  the  Wesleys,  Whitefield, 
Edwards,  the  Tennents  and  the  Blairs.  The  very 
remarkable  awakenings  in  which  Dr.  Nettleton  and  his 
friends  were  instrumental  dififer  again  from  the  times 
of  refreshing  in  which  we  live.  Let  us  not  limit  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel. 

When  the  writer  of  these  lines — before  any  tokens 
of  our  American  awakening  had  appeared — was  in 
Great  Britain,  he  was  made  aware  of  a  most  remark- 
able movement  in  the  religious  world.     The  increase 


'      PREFACE.  15 

of  endeavors  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  the  poor,  in  their 
most  abject  retreats — the  continual  use  of  open-air 
preaching — the  rise  of  several  evangelical  ministers 
upon  vrhose  words  the  multitude  were  disposed  to 
hang — the  services  in  Exeter  Hall,  and  even  the  open- 
ing of  Westminster  Abbey,  spoke  of  zeal  on  one  hand, 
and  roused  attention  on  the  other.  And  when  he  sur- 
veyed an  assembly  of  ten  thousand  souls  giving  rapt 
attention,  at  the  Surrey  Gardens,  to  the  great  evange- 
list of  our  age,  and  discerned  evidence  that  these  mul- 
titudes, continually  filling  anew  that  vast  receptacle, 
were  drawn  together,  not  more  by  the  remarkable  gifts 
of  that  young  man,  than  by  the  fearlessness  with  which 
he  declares  the  vengeance  of  God  against  sin,  and  the 
freshness  and  fullness  with  which  he  offers  an  accom- 
plished salvation  through  Jesus  Christ — the  conclusion 
was  irresistible,  and  was  repeatedly  expressed,  that 
England  also  was  enjoying  a  Revival  of  Religion.  Ac- 
cidents may  vary,  but  the  essence  is  the  same.  And, 
all  the  world  over,  whenever  God  chooses  to  smile 
upon  his  work,  instruments  will  be  forthcoming,  in 
free  abundance  and  beautiful  diversity.  Enlarged 
prayer  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  among  the  whole 
human  family  is  especially  demanded  at  the  present 
time,  when  God  has  touched  so  many  hearts  with  de- 
sire, and  manifested  so  great  a  readiness  to  answer. 

The  papers  which  follow,  in  respect  to  whatever 
concerns  authorship  or  literature,  are  the  merest  trifles ; 
the  truths  which  they  contain,  however,  are  of  infinite 
importance.     It  is  hoped  that  none  will  be  repelled  by 


16  PREFACE.     • 

the  great  plainness  with  which  some  of  the  lessons  are 
conveyed. 

The  articles  respecting  Seamen,  Firemen,  and  our 
City  Population,  though  apparently  local  in  their  in- 
terest, concern  large  and  important  classes,  and  will 
possibly  be  useful  in  this  more  permanent  form. 

The  compositions  in  verse,  a  few  of  which  are  not 
original,  will  not,  it  is  hoped,  interrupt  the  continuity 
of  the  serious  instruction.  A  single  article,  contri- 
buted to  the  series  by  a  brother  in  the  ministry,  has 
been  allowed  to  retain  its  place ;  and  the  lines  entitled 
The  Doomed  Man,  hitherto  published  without  their 
author's  consent,  and  sometimes  erroneously,  are  here 
given  in  their  true  text. 

Republication  in  a  volume  was  not  thought  of,  still 
less  suggested  by  the  author ;  but  if  endeavors  so  un- 
pretending can  be  turned  to  good  account,  in  the 
spu-itual  benefit  of  any,  he  will  rejoice;  and  he  adds 
his  prayers  that  this  may  be  the  result. 


THE  REVIVAL. 


When  many  souls  are  coming  to  Christ  at 
one  time,  we  call  it  a  Kevival  of  Eeligion. 
There  is  no  impropriety  in  this,  even  though 
the  obvious  effects  are  in  converting  sinners. 
This  is  always  preceded  by  the  refreshing  of 
the  Church,  and  just  as  God  reneweth  the 
face  of  the  earth,i  j^  the  spring,  by  calling 
forth  grass  and  flowers,  so  he  revives  the 
wintry  places  of  his  Church  by  bringing  to 
light  thousands  of  hitherto  darkened  souls. 
From  Pentecost  onwards,  the  Holy  Spirit  has 
been  frequently  sent  in  effusion  so  copious  as 
to  add  multitudes  simultaneously  to  the  Church 
of  such  as  shall  be  saved.     O  reader  I  a  time 
of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  is 
also  a  time  for  great  "  searchings  of  hearts."^ 
"Will  you  give  a  few  moments  to   certain 
solemn  and  tender  inquiries  ? 

1  Psalm  104  :  30.  ^  Judges  5  :  IG. 

17 


4  THE    REVIVAL. 

1.  Are  yoit  an  eaemy  of  the  Revival  f  You 
shudder  at  the  thought!  yet  enemies  there 
are ;  an  arch-enemy,  a  liar,  a  murderer,  the 
old  serpent,  is  still  the  foe  of  Christ  and  all 
his  works.  His  aids  and  emissaries  seek  to 
hinder  the  arousing  of  saints,  and  the  conver- 
sion of  sinners.  Perhaps  you  have  heard 
them  sneer  and  rail  at  the  work  of  grace ; 
which  they  deride  as  a  disease  or  an  infatua- 
tion. "  These  people  are  insane."  "  These 
riien  are  full  of  new  wine."^  Perhaps  you 
have  joined  in  the  laughter  of  the  sons  of 
Belial;  or  have  been  afraid  or  ashamed  to 
break  silence.  Consider  with  which  party 
you  then  ranked  yourself.  "  Who  is  on  the 
Lord's  side?""^  is  still  the  question.  To  mock 
at  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  ascribing 
them  to  lower  causes,  is  not  unlike  the  sin  of 
the  Pharisees,  who  dishonored  the  miracles 
of  Christ.3 

Men  may  fight  against  God,^  and  oppose 
his  work  of  grace,  by  denying  or  disparaging 
it ;  by  dwelling  on  every  person  or  incident 
which  has  a  ludicrous  side ;  by  repressing  the 
feelings  of  awakened  souls ;  or  by  encouraging 

I  Acts  2  :  13.  2  Exod.  32  :  2G. 

3  Mark  3  :  22.     Luke  11 ;  15.  "»  Acts  5  :  3D. 

18 


THE    REVIVAL.  5 

frivolous  and  distracting  conversation,  reading, 
or  amusements,  when  the  Spirit  of  God  is 
clearly  and  mightily  moving  the  community 
to  solemn  consideration,  bitter  grief  for  sin, 
and  earnest  turning  from  the  world  to  Christ. 
2.  Do  you  rejoice  in  the  Revival?  The  Church 
cries  to  God:  Wilt  thou  not  revive  us  again, 
that  thy  people  may  rejoice  in  thee?  The 
Church  has  no  greater  joy  on  earth ;  yea,  the 
Church  in  heaven  rejoices  over  one  sinner  that 
repenteth;^  God  and  Christ  rejoice  over  mul- 
titudes renewed  and  forgiven.  Is  this  your 
joy,  0  reader?  When  the  mighty  awakening 
took  place  in  the  region  of  Samaria,  "there 
was  great  joy  in  that  city."^  One  converted 
family  is  cause  of  joy;  when  a  whole  church, 
when  a  whole  neighborhood,  when  multitudes 
in  a  city,  turn  unto  the  Lord,  how  exceedingly 
great  should  be  the  gladness  of  all  who  love 
Christ  and  love  souls !  Are  you  conscious  of 
such  joy  ?  Can  it  be  a  matter  of  indifference 
to  a  truly  renewed  soul,  even  to  hear  a  report 
of  hundreds  brought  to  confess  the  Lord  Jesus? 
Feel  as  Christ  and  holy  angels  feel,  and  you 
v/ill  possess  a  joy  in  the  salvation  of  fellow- 

J  Luke  15  :  7.  ^  Act3  b  :  8. 

19 


6  THE    REVIVAL. 

creatures  and  the  glorj  of  your  Lord.  But 
possibly  you  know  nothing  of  all  this. 

8.  Are  you  a  subject  of  the  Revival  f  The 
kingdom  of  God  has  come  nigh  unto  you; 
but  are  you  of  it  ?  You  hear,  perhaps  you 
speak^  of  the  great  revival ;  but  have  you 
been  yourself  revived?  Has  your  cold  heart, 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  been  made  alive 
by  the  Spirit  of  the  living  Grod?  "Dost  thou 
believe  on  the  Son  of  God?"^  Have  old 
things  passed  away,  and  have  all  things  be- 
come new?^  Have  you  that  love  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  without  which  your  sen- 
tence is  Anathema  Maranatha?^  Have 
you  crucified  the  flesh,  with  the  affections  and 
lusts? 

These  are  very  serious  questions,  to  which 
you  have  long  since  given  a  deliberate  answer, 
if  you  have  been  faithful  to  your  own  soul. 
Believe  me,  dear  reader,  it  is  not  enough  to 
be  a  communicant  in  the  church.  Thousands 
have  been  such,  who  are  now  in  hell.  A 
revived  church  possesses  revived  members. 
Are  you  such  a  one  ?  Lay  the  hand  on  the 
breast  and  say,  has  the  pervading  influence 

JJoliul9:L!5  ^  2  Cor.  5  :  IT.       MCor.  1G:22. 

20 


THE    EEVIVAL.  7 

of  the  blessed  Spirit  kindled  your  soul  to  new 
faith,  hope,  love,  devotion,  and  duty  ?  K  not, 
you  are  still  outside  of  this  shower  of  grace. 

4.  Do  you  pray  for  the  Revival  f  Many 
thousands  are  so  praying.  It  began  in  prayer. 
Thiai^fresh  gifl  of  the  loving  Saviour  was 
born  amidst  the  cries  and  tears  of  his  people. 
While  they  were  speaking,  God  was  near,  to 
bless.  Thus  he  came  upon  the  gathered 
Eleven,  and  thus  upon  the  pentecostal  meet- 
ing for  prayer.^  The  precept  is  still  in  force. 
Pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem  ;  the  promise 
still  holds  good,  "They  shall  prosper  that  love 
thee."^  As  revivals  begin  in  prayer,  so  are 
they  maintained  by  prayer.  The  minister  of 
the  Word  is  but  a  fainting  Moses,  if  Aaron 
and  Hur  cease  to  uphold  his  hands.^  If  we 
would  see  many  thousands  converted  to  God, 
we  must  pray.  "For  thus  saith  the  Lord 
God,  I  will  yet  for  this  be  inquired  of  by  the 
house  of  Israel  to  do  it  for  them ;  I  will  in- 
crease .  them  with  men  like  a  flock ;  as  the 
holy  flock,  as  the  flock  of  Jerusalem  in  her 
solemn  feasts.""*  In  the  house  of  God,  in  the 
converted  meeting  of  brethren,  in  the  Sunday- 

»  John  20  :  19,  26.    Acta  1 :  14 ;  2  :  1.       ^  pgaka  122 :  C. 
•3  Exod   17  :  10,  12.  ^  Ezek.  36  :  37.  33. 

21 


&  THE    REVIVAL. 

school,  m  the  family,  in  tlie  closet,  pray,  pray, 
pray  I 

.5.  Are  you  helping  forward  the  Revival? 
There  fs  much,  work  to  be  done  among  saints 
and  sinners.  Almighty  Grod  is  the  only  ef- 
fectual power.  Paul  and  Apollos  are  noMing, 
till  God  give  the  increase.  Yet  men  are  co- 
workers with  God;  humble  instruments  to 
convey  his  truth  and  promote  his  glory. 
Say  not  you  are  weak.  He  hath  chosen  the 
weak  things  of  this  world  to  confound  the 
mighty.  Say  not  you  have  no  influence; 
you  have  already  exerted  too  much,  on  the 
wrong  side.  Go  forward  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  with  light  and  love,  and  you  shall  be- 
hold the  fruit  of  your  labor.  You  have  a 
relative,  a  partner,  a  friend,  a  dependant,  a 
neighbor,  whose  soul  you  have  neglected. 
You  have  an  hour  in  the  week,  or  five  min- 
utes in  the  day,  which  you  have  failed  to 
devote  to  saving  an  immortal  being.  You 
may  conduct  one  to  a  religious  meeting ;  you 
may  bless  another  by  rebuke.  You  may  lend 
a  book,  give  a  tract,  write  an  affectionate  let- 
ter. Especially  you  may  plead  with  some 
fellow-creature,  that  he  would  be  reconciled 
to  God.     Peradventure  your  working-time  is 

short. 

22 


THE    REVIVAL.  9 

6.  Does  your  heart  care  for  the  fruits  of  the 
Eevivalf  There  is  a  duty  to  the  golden  sheaves 
after  the  ears  have  fallen  before  the  sickle. 
Folded  sheep  must  be  watched  and  fed.  Kew 
converts  are  endangered  creatures,  lambs 
amidst  wolves.  Christ  cares  for  them,  and 
wills  that  his  servants  should  care  for  them. 
It  is  not  the  will  of  the  Father  that  one  of 
these  little  ones  should  perish.^  Beware  how 
yoTi  offend,  that  is,  betray  into  sin,  one  of  these 
little  ones.  Seek  to  prevent  their  straying. 
Seek  to  imbue  them  with  sound  doctrine. 
This  ductile  condition  is  the  very  one  in 
which  to  receive  the  mould  of  truth.^  Earn- 
estly endeavor  to  bring  them  to  an  intelligent 
and  sincere  profession  of  faith,  and  then  to 
useful  labors.  Half  the  benefit  of  revivals  is 
lost  from  neglect  of  those  who  have  been  con- 
verted. Might  not  classes  of  instruction  for 
such  persons,  after  the  primitive  model,  be 
found  valuable?  Dear  Christian  reader,  if 
your  heart  has  ever  felt  true  penitence  and 
love  to  Jesus,  feed  his  sheep,  feed  his  lambs ! 
7.  Have  you  sought  to  honor  God  in  ike 
Revival  f  The  glory  of  God  the  Saviour  is 
the  chief  endto  be  regarded,  in  the  salvation 

1  Man.  IS  :  14.  ^  Rom.  6  :  17. 

23 


10  THE    REVIVAL. 

of  the  perisliing.  Every  true  conversion  adds 
splendor  to  Messiali's  crown.  By  every  true 
revival  of  religion,  glory  redounds  to  tlie  Lord 
God  Almighty.  But  this  declarative  glory  is 
lessened  by  every  thing  in  the  work  which 
overclouds  divine  grace,  or  exalts  poor,  sin- 
ful man,  and  his  doings  and  deservings.  Oh  I 
how  careful  should  he  be,  in  every  meeting, 
in  every  devotion,  in  every  word,  to  maintain 
a  reverence  and  godly  fear  for  that  Holy  One 
whom  we  profess  to  believe  present!  "For 
our  God  is  a  consuming  fire."^  The  young 
Levite,  who  unwarily  touched  the  ark,  was 
zealous  but  not  reverent.  When  dealing 
with  or  for  souls,  we  can  not  be  too  gentle" 
and  tender,  even  as  a  nurse  cherisheth  her 
[own]  children;  we  can  not  be  too  humble 
and  meek.  Pray  for  the  'love  of  the  Spirit.'^ 
Shun  all  that  is  censorious,  or  savoring  of 
spiritual  pride.  All  religious  experiences  are 
doubtful,  which  leave  the  soul  arrogant,  un- 
teachable,  harsh,  and  denunciatory.  Let  the 
awe  of  God's  presence  affect  us,  as  it  did  the 
seraphim ;  and  when  our  exultation  is  highest, 
let  us  most  deeply  cry :  Holy,  Holy,  Holy  F 
How  tenderly  we  should  fear  lest  any  uncru- 

>  Heb.  12  :  29.  ^  Rom.  15 :  30.  3  Isa.  G  :  1-6. 

24 


THE    REVIVAL.  H 

cified  tempers  of  ours,  should  'eat  as  dott  a 
canker,'  and  spread  contagion  tlirougli  the 
blessed  work.1  So  live,  beloved  brother  m 
the  Lord,  that  you  may  be  able  to  say  of  al 
around  you,  as  did  Paul,  "And  they  glorified 
God  in  me."^ 

I  2  Tim.  2:  11  'Gall:  24. 


25 


12  THE  REVIVAL. 


FOB     BE  V  I  VAL. 

Behold  thy  drooping  vine,  0  God ! 
And  shed  thy  quickening  grace  abroad ; 
Our  graces  faint,  our  joys  decline. 
Yet  still,  Redeemer,  we  are  thine. 

Awake  to  help  us  from  on  high, 
And  let  deUvering  power  be  nigh. 
Hear  our  bewaUings  and  complaints, 
And  grant  revival  to  thy  saints. 

As  in  the  times  of  old  come  down. 
And  cease  in  just  rebuke  to  frown : 
Far  we  have  wandered  from  thy  way. 
Arrest  us  lest  we  further  stray. 

By  thy  convincing  power  reprove. 
And  wake  the  sleepers  into  love, 
Cause  us  again  to  hear  the  sound 
Of  anxious  moanings  all  around. 

We  suppliant  plead  in  that  great  Name, 
Which  saves  thy  heritage  from  shame  ; 
For  Jesus'  sake  display  thy  power. 
In  this  our  dark  and  sinking  hour. 


26 


SEEK  TO   SAVE   SOULS. 


God  only  can  save  a  sou],  in  the  liigli  and 
proper  sense.  It  is  He  wlio  converts  the  sin- 
ner. Yet  in  Scripture  human  instruments  are 
said  to  convert  and  save.^  ^  The  motives  to 
attempt  this,  are  regard  for  the  glory  of  God, 
and  love  to  the  souls  of  men.  In  seasons  of 
religious- revival,  both  principles  are  operative 
in  numbers  of  believers.,  Eeader,  pause  and 
ask  yourself,  how  it  is  with  you  ? 

To  be  the  instrument  of  converting  a  single 
soul,  is  so  great  a  blessing  and  honor,  that  if 
there  were  no  other  way  to  accomplish  it,  any 
true  Christian  would  be  willing  to  lay  down 
his  life.  "He  which  converteth  the  sinner 
from  the  error  of  his  way,  shall  save  a  soul 
from  death,  and  shall  hide  a  multitude  of 
sins.  "2     Think  thus :  With  God's  blessing,  I 

'  James  5  :  20.  2  james  5  :  20. 

27 


4  SEEK  TO^SAVE  SOULS. 

shall  save  tliis  soul  from  death  ;  I  shall  glorify 
God  by  hiding  all  this  sinner's  transgressions. 
At  times,  when  the  hearing  ear  is  given  to 
many ;  when  your  neighbors  are  accessible ; 
when  inquiry  is  wide-spread  ;  and  when  the 
very  rumor  of  wonderful  conversions  startles 
the  once  careless,  oh  I  be  up  and  doing  I 
The  greatness  of  the  work  can  not  be  over- 
rated. K  you  have  done  nothing  yet  towards 
saving  a  soul,  you  have  that  before  you  which 
exceeds  in  glory  all  that  you  have  hitherto 
accomplished  in  your  whole  life.  And  if 
every  professing  Christian  in  our  churches 
were  rightly  affected  on  this  subject,  we  might 
expect  to  see  efforts  beyond  all  that  the  world 
has  witnessed.  Such  awakenings  and  har- 
vests would  come,  as  in  our  present  unbelief 
we  hardly  dare  to  pray  for.  If  great  and  un- 
exampled ingatherings  of  souls  ever  bless  our 
world,  as  Christians  pray  and  hope  they  may, 
these  will  doubtless  be  preceded  by  a  spirit 
of  individual  earnestness  in  bringing  sinners 
to  Christ.  Such  a  temper  is  inseparable 
from  the  new  nature.  ISTo  sooner  does  a  be- 
liever taste  that  the  Lord  is  gracious,  than  he 
desires,  yea  longs,  to  make  his  excellency 
known  to  others.  His  language  to  all  around 
28 


SEEK  TO  SAVE   SOULS..  O 

is :  "  Come  and  hear,  all  ye  that  fear  God, 
and  I  will  declare  what  He  hath  done  for  my 
soul."^  Such  is  the  law  of  progress  in  the 
kingdom.  "When  Andrew  hears  John,  and 
follows  the  Eedeemer,  see  how  he  instantly 
goes  in  pursuit  of  his  brother  Simon,  and 
brings  him  to  Jesus.  "When  Philip,  the  towns- 
man of  these  disciples,  has  b^  called  by  the 
Lord,  he  instantly  seeks  to  bring  in  Nathan- 
iel.^ Christian  reader,  whom  have  you 
sought  and  found?  "What  straying  sheep, 
lost  among  thorns  and  wolves,  have  you  ever 
brought  back  ?  Is  it  not  high  time  to  consi- 
der this  duty  and  privilege  ? 

A  soul — a  soul — an  immortal  soul !  Think 
of  its  capacity,  its  duration,  its  value  I  Think 
of  the  hell  it  must  endure,  if  impenitent ;  of 
the  heaven  it  shall  possess,  if  pardoned.  Think 
of  the  price  laid  down  by  the  incarnate  Son 
of  God.  "  What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he 
gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul ; 
or  what  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his 
soul  ?"^  These  considerations  will  incite  you 
to  new  efforts  towards  convincing  and  per- 
suading   sinners.     0    my   brother  I    though 

Psalm  66  :  16.  ^  John  1 :  43-51.  ^  j^fark  8 :  36. 

29 


6  ^  SEEK  TO  SAVE  SOULS. 

your  endeavors  sliould  Jbe  blessed  to  tlie  sav- 
ing of  only  one,  what  will  be  the  reward  of 
meeting  that  one  in  heaven  I 

There  is  powerful  motive  in  the  peril  of  the 
unconverted.  Eeflect,  that  the  very  argu- 
ments by  which  we  try  to  work  conviction 
in  sinners,  are  equally  valid  to  work  in  us 
zeal  for  theirHklvation.  Do  preachers  and 
friends  urge  on  them  that  they  are  under 
God's  awful  wrath  and  curse?  The  same 
reason  should  impel  us  to  pluck  them  as 
brands  out  of  the  burning.  Are  they  every 
moment  exposed  to  the  damnation  of  hell  ? 
Then  not  a  moment  should  we  leave  them  in 
this  jeopardy.  Is  it  a  horrible  thing  for  sin- 
ners to  be  at  enmity  with  God,  and  devoid  of 
all  love  for  our  blessed  Jesus  ?  This  is  an  un- 
answerable reason  why  we  should  pray  and 
speak  and  labor,  that  they  may  be  reconciled 
and  saved.  K  we  strongly  believe  the  truth, 
and  ardently  love  our  fellow-men,  we  shall 
let  no  opportunity  slip,  of  throwing  divine 
lessons  into  their  minds  ;  nay,  we  shall  devise 
and  make  opportunities,  if  such  do  not  offer 
themselves. 

Dear  fellow-disciples,  how  far  we  fall  below 
that  law  of  souls  which  glowed  m  the  Apostle 
30 


SEEK  TO  SAVE  SOULS.  7 

of  the  Gentiles  I  He  longed  to  win  men  to 
Christ.  "I  have  made  myself  servant  unto 
all,"  says  he,  "that  I  might  gain  the  more."^ 
And  again:  "I  am  made  all  things  to  all 
men,  that  I  might  by  all  means  save  some." 
Few  of  Tis  sympathize,  with  his  tears,  shed 
while  he  wrote  of  the  impenitent.  "Many 
walk,"  so  he  addressed  the  Philippians,  "  of 
whom  I  have  often  told  you,  and  now  tell 
you  even  weeping,  that  they  are  the  enemies 
of  the  cross  of  Christ. "^  Can  we  really  be- 
lieve what  we  say  of  our  unconverted  friends  ? 
Are  they  truly  "  strangers  from  the  covenants 
of  promise,  having  no  hope,  and  without  God 
in  the  world  "?^  Surely,  there  is  some  secret 
skepticism  which  palsies  the  sinews  of  our 
exertion.  Did  we  inwardly  and  heartily  be- 
lieve what  we  profess,  we  should  be  calling 
upon  the  ungodly  all  around  us,  to  turn  to 
God.  The  heathen  mariners  exclaimed  to 
Jonah:  "What  meanest  thou,  O  sleeper? 
arise !  call  upon  thy  God  I"^  Much  more,  if 
convinced  that  they  are  perishing,  should  we 
strive  to  alarm  the  guilty  conscience  of  care- 
less companions.    What  would  be  our  course 

»  1  Cor.  9 :  19,  22,  «  Phil,  3 :  18. 

3  Eph.  2:12.  *  Jonah  1 :  6. 

31 


8  SEEK   rO  SAVE  SOULS. 

if  a  neighbor  were  discovered  to  be  in  danger 
of  losing  his  life?  Suppose  a  case.  One 
whom  jou  esteem  is  sleeping  in  a  bouse 
wbicb  you  know  to  be  in  flames.  Or  a  be- 
loved young  friend  is  embarking  on  a  vessel 
wbicb  you  know  is  net  seaworthy.  Or  a  per- 
son near  and  dear  to  you  is  about  to  be  way- 
laid by  assassins.  You  know  what  would  be , 
your  acts  in  such  a  juncture.  But,  oh!  in- 
consistent brother!  you  behold  an  infinitely 
greater  danger;  yet  you  do  nothing!  You 
are  as  uncertain  of  this  friend's  life,  as  of  your 
own.  The  death  of  either  will  frustrate  the 
plan  now  proposed  to  you.  Before  he  is 
summoned  to  the  awful  bar  of  God,  make 
some  attempt  to  save  his  soul.  Of  such  ac- 
tivity as  this,  we  may  say  without  hesitation : 
*'  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it 
with  thy  might;  for  there  is  no  work,  nor 
device,  nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom  in  the 
grave,  whither  thou  goest."^  All  exhorta- 
tions and  entreaties,  to  ungodly  fellow-crea- 
tures, must  be  during  the  present  life.  And 
as  you  have  sometimes  feared  for  yourself, 
lest  the  Spirit  of  God  should  be  quenched. 
and  your  day  of  grace  overclouded,  so  ought 

^Eccks.  9  :10. 
32 


SEEK  TO   SAVE  SOULS.  9 

joii  to  fear  for  them.  How  knowest  thou,  O 
Christian  !  but  that  the  intercession  has  been 
only  for  a  year,  a  month,  or  a  day,  in  the  case 
of  your  friend ;  and  that  even  Jesus  has  said : 
* 'After  that,  thou  shalt  cut  it  down  "?i  Per- 
adventure,  while  you  linger  about  this  obvious 
piece  of  faithfulness,  the  just  Judge  is  saying 
to  the  sinner :  "  Thou  fool,  this  night  thy  soul 
shall  be  required  of  thee  !"^ 

How  solemn  is  the  reflection,  and  how 
should  it  press  you  forward  to  instant  act, 
that  many  whom  you  might  have  addressed 
on  this  topic,  are  now  beyond  your  reach. 
Sit  down  and  ponder,  as  you  recall  the  past. 
'There  was  M.,  who  lived  months  in  my 
house,  yet  to  whom  I  never  recommended  my 
Lord.  She  is  now  in  a  foreign  land,  afar 
from  all  evangelical  means.  There  is  IST.,  who 
was  misled  by  my  worldliness  and  fashionable 
folly.  She  has  died  without  hope.  There  is 
young  P. ;  my  lips  were  half-opened  to  warn 
him ;  but  it  is  too  late ;  he  has  been  driven 
away  in  his  wickedness.'^  Shall  such  events 
be  occurring  every  day,  and  yet  shall  disci- 
ples of  Jesus  refrain  from  seeking  to  save 
souls?     0  reader!  bring  the  claim  home  to 

1  Luke  13:9.  "-  Luke  20  :  20.  s  Prov.  U  :  32. 

33 


10  SEEK  TO  SAVE  SOULS. 

jour  own  conscience  I  Can  you  sleep  to- 
night, without  having  tried  to  save  a  soul 
from  death  ?  Who  is  he,  to  whom  you  will 
address  yourself  ?  Go  to  your  closet,  and  cry 
mightily  unto  God  for  his  blessing  on  the 
weak  endeavor.  Then  set  about  it,  in  tender 
love.  It  may  be  only  a  sentence,  broken 
with  sobs,  yet  it  may  go  to  the  heart.  It 
may  be  a  book,  a  tract,  a  passage  of  Scripture, 
a  hymn ;  each  of  these  has  proved  the  arrow 
from  God's  bow.  Above  all,  an  affectionate 
and  fiithful  letter  to  an  unconverted  acquaint- 
ance is  often  the  very  message  to  be  owned 
of  the  Spirit. 

You  have  neglected  souls  I  Your  conduct 
has  said:  "Am  I  my  brother's  keeper?"^ 
You  have  practically  avowed  the  principle : 
"  Go  I  serve  other  gods  1''^  Many  there  are, 
who  are  tempted  to  exclaim :  "  No  man  cared 
for  my  soul."^  ."W^at  words  can  depict  the 
horrors  of  the  case,  where  the  impenitent  per- 
son, thus  neglected  and  thus  liable  to  God's 
wrath,  is  bone  of  your  bone,  and  flesh  of  your 
flesh  I^  Shall  a  man  allow  the  wife  of  his 
bosom  to  hear  no  more  from  him  concerning 

»  Gen.  4:9.  5  1  Sam.  26:19. 

3  Psalm  142  :  4.  4  Gen.  2  :  23. 

34 


SEEK  TO  SAVE  SOULS.  11 

salvation  than  if  lie  were  a  corpse  ?  0  har- 
dened soul  I  shall  thy  husband  perish  without 
a  word  from  thy  lips  ?  And  who  shall  care 
for  the  souls  of  children,  if  their  parents  do 
not  ?  There  is  not  a  family,  a  bank,  a  ship, 
a  counting-house,  a  factory,  a  shop,  a  place  of 
business,  a  school,  in  which  these  counsels 
have  not  direct  application.  He  or  she,  whom 
you  see  every  day,  who  is  next  to  you,  and 
who  doubtless  wonders  at  your  cowardly  si- 
lence, is  the  very  person  to  whom  you  should 
speak. 

Thousands  of  thousands  are  yet  to  love 
Jesus,  and  reflect  his  image.  If  some  of  these 
shall  have  been  brought  to  glory  by  your 
means,  what  an  honor  and  delight !  Emi- 
nently faithful  men  and  women  have  been 
the  instruments  of  rescuing  many.  "And 
they  that  be  wise,  shall  shine  as  the  bright- 
ness of  the  firmament;  and  they  that  turn 
many  to  righteousness,  as  the  stars  forever 
and  ever."^ 

1  DaiL  12 :  3. 


35 


12  SEEK  TO  SAVE  SOULS. 


UTTER  AJICE. 

If  God  the  Lord  will  show  to  me 

The  glory  of  his  grace, 
My  lips  shall  speak  the  promise  free 

Out  in  the  holy  place. 

Let  the  live  coal  my  lips  refine, 

And  love  inspire  my  heart, 
Then  my  glad  voice  shall  loudly  join, 

The  blessing  to  impart. 

When  guilt  lies  heavy  on  the  soul, 
The  preacher's  voice  is  weak, 

But  joy  can  gush  without  control, 
And  bursting  love  can  speak. 

'Tis  utterance  from  within  that  finds, 

Its  way  to  hearts  of  stone. 
And  Christ's  own  Spirit  melts  the  minds 

When  mercy  breathes  the  tone. 


36 


PRAY  FOR  THE  SPIRIT. 


Ix  order  to  miglitj  and  unexampled  re- 
vival, what  we  especially  need  is  for  the 
whole  Church  to  be  down  on  its  knees  before 
God.  Past  redemptions  should  make  our 
cravings  great.  "lam  the  Lord  thy  Grod, 
which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  ; 
open  thy  mouth  wide,  and  I  will  fill  it."^ 
Thousands  have  already  been  seen  gathered 
in  one  place  for  prayer,  but  when  "the  Spirit 
of  grace  and  of  supplications  "  is  poui-ed  -out 
on  the  great  body  of  Christians,  touched  with 
pity  for  the  desolations  of  the  spiritual  Jeru- 
salem, that  word  will  come  true:  "Thou 
shalt  arise  and  have  mercy  upon  Zion,  for  the 
time  to  favor  her,  yea,  the  set  time  is  come; 
for  thy  servants  take  pleasure  in  her  stones, 
and  favor  the  dust  thereof. ''^     Oh !  that  God's 

1  Psalm  81  :  10.  2  Pgalm  102  :  13,  14. 

37 


4  PRAY   FOR  THE  SPIRIT. 

people  were  awake  to  tlie  privilege  of  crying 
aloud  for  his  great  gift ! 

Open  your  mind,  believing  reader,  to  the 
extraordinary  truth,  that  God  has  an  infinite 
willingness  to  bestow  in  answer  to  prayer 
that  which,  since  the  sending  of  his  Son,  is 
the  greatest  of  all  his  possible  gifts.  ^"  If  ye 
then,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts 
unto  your  children,  how  much  more  shall 
your  Heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  them  that  ask  him  ?"^  0  parent  I  ponder 
on  this  blessed  verse  ;  there  is  that  within  thy 
heart  which  will  reveal  its  meaning!  And 
what  is  it  that  God  is  so  ready  to  give  ?  It  is 
that  which  secures  and  appHes  all  the  benefits 
of  Christ's  mediation ;  that  which  makes  re- 
vivals here,  and  heaven  hereafter ;  it  is  the 
Holy  Spirit  !  Ought  not  aU  disciples,  all 
over  the  world,  to  be  prostrate  before  the 
throne  of  grace,  beseeching  God  for  Christ's 
sake  to  communicate  this  all-comprehensive 
boon?  To  him  only  do  we  look,  because 
with  him  is  "  the  residue  of  the  Spirit.  "^  But 
we  ask  in  the  name  of  Christ,  for  the  yery 
name    means   Anointed,  and  the   anointing, 

lLukoll:13.  2  Mai.  2:15. 

38 


PKAY  FOR  THE  SPIRIT.  5 

whicli  flows  from  him  as  Head,  to  all  tlie 
members,  is  this  very  gift,  the  Holy  Ghost, 
"  for  God  giveth  not  the  Spirit  by  measure 
unto  him."^  He  hath  it  immeasurably,  and 
for  his  Church,  and  they  draw  for  it  in  his 
name  by  prayer.  Occupy  a  few  moments 
upon  this  great  gift ;  it  will  aid  your  prayers. 
1.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  the  pouring  out  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  As  Moses  *'  poured  of  the 
anointing  oil  on  Aaron's  head,"  so  God  pours 
the  unction  of  his  Spirit  on  the  head  of  our 
Great  High  Priest.^  And  as  the  ceremonial 
fragrance  flowed  down  to  "  the  skirts  of  his 
garments,"^  so  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  comes  on 
all  behevers.  "  The  anointing  which  ye  have 
received  of  him,"  says  the  Apostle  John, 
*'abideth  in  you."**  But  the  effusion  is  some- 
times uncommonly  great,  even  to  outpouring. 
Some  have  found  fault  with  the  term,  which 
nevertheless  is  intensely  biblical,  and  conse- 
crated in  the  Church.  Among  promises  to 
Israel  in  the  latter  day,  the  Lord  says :  "  Nei- 
ther will  I  hide  my  face  any  more  from  them ; 
for  I  have  poured  out  my  Spirit  upon  the 

lJohn3:34.  2  Lev.  8  :  12. 

3  Psalm  133  :  2.  4  i  John  2  :  27. 

1*       89 


6  PRAY  FOR  THE   SPIRIT. 

house  of  Israel,  saith  the  Lord  God."^  Apos- 
tolic comment  applies  to  New  Testament 
times  the  words  of  another  prophet :  "I  will 
pour  out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh."^  So  in 
another  place:  "Behold,  I  will  pour  out 
mj  Spirit  unto  you."^  The  idea  necessarily 
presented  is  that  of  bountiful  effusion.  Let 
us  ask  for  it.  The  Lord  Jesus  comforted  his 
sorrowing  .disciples  by  the  promise  of  this 
gift,  as  the  result  of  his  ascension.  "  If  I  de- 
part, I  will  send  him  unto  you."^  This  Com- 
forter he  did  send,  0!  how  graciously  and 
gloriously,  at  the  first  Christian  Pentecost. 
"  Having  received  of  the  Father  the  promise 
of  the  Holy  GhostJ''  said  the  Apostle  Peter, 
"  he  hath  shed  forth  this  which  ye  now  see 
and  hear."^  There  had  just  been  suddenly  a 
sound  from  heaven,  as  of  a  rushing  mighty 
wind,  filling  all  the  house  where  they  were 
sitting;  "and  they  were  all  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost."  Do  not  fail  to  observe,  that 
believers  had  been  in  union  of  prayer  for  this 
very  gift,  thus  complying  with  the  Lord's  in- 
junction that  they  should    "  wait    for    the 

1  Eze.  39  :  29.  2  Joel  2  :  28.  3  Prov.  1  :  23 

4  John  16    7.  5  Acts  2  :  3.'.. 

40 


,     PRAY  FOR  THE  SPIRIT.  7 

promise  of  the  Father."^  The  gift  was  con- 
tinued, under  early  preaching;  and  ^'the 
Holy  Ghost  fell  on  them  that  heard  the 
"Word."^  The  same  Apostle,  many  years 
afterwards,  refers  to  the  known  fact  of  "the 
Holy  Grhost  sent  down  from  heaven."^  Every 
great  awakening  and  plentiful  harvest  of  souls 
has  proceeded  from  the  same  Spirit,  sought 
by  the  same  importunity  of  beseeching  prayer. 
Therefore,  pray  for  the  Spirit ! 

2.  The  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  is 
exceedingly  powerful  We  ask  something 
mighty  and  revolutionizing.  It  is  Omnipo- 
tence that  we  are  praying  for.  A  wicked 
city,  a  wicked  world,  will  yield  to  no  inferior 
strength.  What  an  encouragement  that 
"  with  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  everlasting 
strength!"  It  is  as  applicable  to  revival  of 
the  Church  as  to  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple. 
*'  ISTot  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my 
Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."^  Let  Christ- 
ians no  longer  despair  of  the  conversion  of 
high-handed  sinners,  even  the  vilest  of  the 
vile,  in  our  filthiest  and  bloodiest  dens  ;  as  if 

1  Compare  Acta  1  :  4,  5,  U ;  2  :  1.    2  Acts  10  :  44 ;  II  :  15. 
3  1  PetcT  1  :  12.  4Zecb.  4:  6. 

41 


8  PRAY  FOR  THE  SPIRIT.    , 

we  expected  in  answer  to  our  prayers  only 
some  weak,  half-way  operation.  "Our  gos- 
pel," says  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  *'came 
not  unto  you  in  word,  only,  but  also  in  power^ 
and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in  much  assurance."^ 
This  is  our  ground  of  hope  when  the  ministers 
of  the  Word  proclaim  the  glad  tidings  ;  that 
the  preaching  may  be  "in  demonstration  of 
the  Spirit  and  of  power."^  God  grant  us  deli- 
verance from  our  unbelief,  as  to  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  giving  eJficacy  to  the- truth  I 
8.  The  Spirit,  whom  we  seek,  is  the  Author 
of  Begeneration  and  Sanctification.  If  God 
vouchsafe  us  these,  in  wide  extent,  our  revival 
will  be  indeed  complete.  "That  which  is 
bom  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit."^  All  believers 
shout  the  same  praise:  "According  to  his 
mercy  he  saved  us,  by  the  washing  of  regene- 
ration, and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost."'* 
Look  at  thousands,  utterly  blind  as  to  spiritual 
realities,  and  say,  what  can  we  ask  for  them 
so  indispensably  important,  as  that  Spirit  of 
Truth,  who  will  "reprove,"  or  convince 
"  the  world  of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and 

1  Thess.  1:5.  a  i  Cor.  2  :  4. 

3  John  3  :  6,  6,  8.  4  Titus  3  :  8. 

42 


PRAY  FOR  THE  SPIRIT.  9 

of  judgment'?"^  He  is  just  as  able  to  convert 
the  ruffian,  or  the  fallen  woman,  as  the  church- 
going  Pharisee ;  just  as  able  to  renew  a  thou- 
sand as  one.  Who  is  sufficiently  awake  to 
the  necessity  of  imploring  God  to  convert  a 
multitude  of  sinners  ? 

All  revival  of   the  Church  is  increased 
sanctification ;  and  all  reclaiming  of  the  im- 
p  enitent  is  sanctification  begun.     For  both  we 
need  the  gift  of  the  Spirit ;  and  we  need  it 
now.     We  need  it  to  break  the  power  of  sin 
in  professing  Christians,  and  to  nail  their  lusts 
to  the  cross ;  for  it  is  by  this  influence  that 
we  "  do  mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body."^    Some 
of  the  primitive  behevers  had  been  atrocious 
sinners ;  "  but,"  says  the  Apostle  Paul,  *'  ye 
are  washed,  but  ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  are 
justified,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
by  the  Spirit  of  our  God."^    Hope,  Joy,  Love, 
and  consequent  activity  and  success,  are  fruits 
of  the  same  Spirit.'*    Li  a  word,  the  Spirit  of 
God  is  the  Spbrit  of  Eevival.     Earnest,  daily, 
united  prayer  of  the  people  of  Christ  for  this 
high  gifb  puts  honor  upon  God  in  a  remark- 

1  John  16  :  8.  3  Rom.  8  :  13. 

3  1  Cor.  6:11.  ^  Rom.  5  :  5  ;  1  Thess.  1 :  6. 

43 


10  PRAY   FOR  THE  SPIRIT. 

able  degree ;  and  we  already  haVe  cause  to 
note  how  signally  lie  blesses  endeavors  whicli 
were  openly  begun  in  prayer.  Beloved  breth- 
ren, let  us  not  mistake  the  token,  nor  fail  to 
go  in  the  path  pointed  out  by'Providence  and 
the  Spirit. 

4.  The  Holy  Spirit  sends  those  gifts  luhich  are 
necessary  for  successfu  I  work.  "When  miraculous 
gifts  were  necessary,  they  were  not  withheld. 
All  inspiration,  wisdom,  and  ministry  are 
from  the  same  source.  So  also  are  the  com- 
mon qualifications  for  service  demanded  in 
the  daily  walk  of  an  earnest  Christian,  who 
seeks  to  save  souls.  "  There  are  diversities  of 
operations,  but  it  is  the  same  God  which 
worketh  all  in  all ;  but  the  manifestation  of 
the  Spirit  is  given  to  every  man  to  profit 
withal."^  The  Lord  promised  that  the  Spirit 
should  prompt  his  disciples  when  arraigned.^ 
Equally  does  the  blessed  Monitor  fill  their 
hearts  and  lips  for  common  service.  Apostles 
themselves  sought  for  "  utterance"  by  means 
of  prayer  f  and  a  praying  Church  will  have  a 
ministry  and  members,  bold  and  loving  in 
owning  and  recommending  their  Lord.     The 

iCor.  12:6,  7.  2  Luke  12  t  12.  3  Eph.  6  :  19. 

44 


PRAY   FOR  THE  SPIRIT.  11 

supplications,  whicli  bring  down  such  influ- 
ences, are  themselves  wrought  of  Grod,  when 
believers,  keeping  themselves  in  the  love  of 
Grod,  are  at  the  same  time  "praying  in  the 
Holy  Ghost."^  See  thus  how  completely  de- 
pendent we  are  for  all  upon  the  Holy  Spirit 
of  God.  Grace  manifestly  began  the  work ; 
grace  keeps  it  alive ;  grace  must  carry  it  on 
and  give  it  extension. 

Brethren,  we  must  pray  as  we  have  never 
yet  prayed.  Our  want  of  success  is  due  to 
our  coldness  of  desire  and  niggardliness  of 
request.  We  are  not  straitened  in  God,  but 
in  our  own  low,  slender  conceptions  and 
hopes.  We  have  no?,  because  we  ask  not. 
K  we  were  under  a  deep  and  solemn  impres- 
sion of  the  Divine  power,  bounty,  and  faithful- 
ness, "  how  should  one  chase  a  thousand,  and 
two  put  ten  thousand  to  flight  I"^  The  lesson 
which  the  Eevival  should  teach  us  is  the  duty 
of  being  instant  in  supplication  for  the  larger 
and  more  glorious  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Acting  on  this,  we  shall  behold  new  marvels 
of  love  in  the  place  of  prayer. 

1  Jude  20.  2  Deut.  32  :  30. 

45 


12  PRAY  FOR  THE  SPIRIT. 

FOB    SINCEKITY. 

Master,  when  I  attempt  thy  work, 

A  thousand  vexing  cares  are  nigh, 
A  thousand  base  corruptions  lurk, 
To  make  me  linger,  fall  or  fly  : 
More  than  thy  orders,  Lord,  I  need, 
For  constant  strengthening  grace  I  plead. 

When  I  should  seek  thy  only  praise, 

Wretch  !  I  am  seeking  oft  my  own  ; 
Nor  can  I  hymns  of  glory  raise 
Devoutly  at  thy  sacred  throne, 
But  that  the  self-exalting  strain 
Intrudes  to  make  my  worship  vain. 

Oft  when  my  lips  express  a  care 

For  what  concerns  thy  work  alone, 
Among  the  musings,  cluster  there 
Some  little  troubles  of  my  own ; 
Self  still  has  place,  alas !  I  fear 
'Tis  self  that  speaks  and  governs  here. 

Yet  if  thy  glory  thou  reveal — 

If  Christ  in  full  effulgence  shine— 
If  heavenly  rapture  o'er  me  steal — 
And  love,  and  joy,  and  zeal  combine- 
The  new  emotions  shall  expel 
The  retinue  of  sin  and  hell. 
46 


THE  UNAWAKENED 


Unawakened  I  Alas,  0  sinner  !  unless 
thou  be  awakened,  thou  must  perish  I 

Not  long  ago,  a  house  containing  many  in- 
mates was  burned  down  at  night.  Several 
persons  perished  in  the  flames.  Would  you 
know  the  reason  ?  They  were  awakened  too 
late.  So  the  finally  impenitent  sinner  will 
awake;  but  too  late  I  Those  are  dreadful 
words,  even  in  some  earthly  conjunctures. 
Too  LATE  I  TOO  LATE !  You  Stand  by  the 
brink  of  a  deep  and  rapid  river,  and  see  a 
youth  fall  into  its  waters.  He  sinks,  strug- 
gling, and  then  rises.  Boats  put  out ;  gallant 
fellows  pull  to  his  rescue;  they  seize  his 
tangled  hair  as  he  rises  once  more,  and  bear 
his  drenched  and  flaccid  body  to  the  bank. 
It  is  too  late  I  The  breath  of  life  has  fled. 
So  in  many  conceivable  instances  of  earthly 
peril,  in  some  of  which  the  perishing  creature, 
47 


4  THE   UNAWAKEXED, 

a  suicide  for  example,  awakes  to  tlie  direful 
truth  of  his  catastrophe ;  but  awakes  too  late ! 
Sinner,  you  will  assuredly  awake,  either  in 
time  or  in  eternity. 

Sooner  or  later,  a  man's  sins  find  him  out."^ 
Perhaps  in  temporal  disgrace  and  retribution. 
Perhaps  at  the  hour  of  death.  Beyond  all 
peradventure  at  the  bar  of  God.  The  rich 
man  was  not  awakened  in  his  pui-ple  and  fine 
linen.  In  his  lifetime  he  received  his  good 
things ;  but  "  in  hell  he  lifb  up  his  eyes,  being 
in  torments."  He  was  then  fully  awake.  Can 
you  endure  the  thought  of  being  aroused  by 
your  sins,  where  no  pardons  are  vouchsafed  ? 

"  There  are  no  acta  of  pardon  past 
In  the  cold  grave  to  which  we  haste ; 
But  darkness,  death,  and  long  despair 
Reign  in  eternal  silence  there." 

"  It  is  high  time  to  awake  out  of  sleep." 
These  words  are  as  applicable  to  this  case,  as 
to  that  intended  by  the  Apostle.  Oh  I  for  a 
trumpet-blast,  loud  enough  to  startle  the  care- 
less reader  of  these  words  into  a  salutary  fear 
of  death,  judgment  and  eternal  wrath !     You 

1  Num.  32  :  23. 
48 


THE   UNAWAKENED.  5 

■walk  on  the  brink  of  a  precipice,  and  God's 
holiness,  justice,  and  truth  are  all  against  jou. 
Yet  it  is  your  offended  Judge  who  continues 
to  pursue  jou  with  the  cry:  "Behold,  now 
is  the  accepted  time :  behold  now  is  the  day 
of  salvation."^  The  time  is  auspicious.  It  is 
God's  time.  *' To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  his 
voice,  harden  not  your  hearts."^  To-morrow 
has  no  promises.  To-morrow  you  may  be  in 
eternity.  Death  has  surprised  thousands  at 
the  very  time  when  they  were  procrastinating, 
repentance.  The  foolish  virgins  were  not 
awakened  till  they  heard  the  midnight  cry : 
"Behold,  the  bridegroom  cometh!"  The 
voice  of  the  archangel  and  the  trump  of  God 
will  wake  every  sleeper,  for  "  all  that  are  in 
the  graves  shall  hear  His  voice,  and  shall 
come  forth ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto 
the  resurrection  of  life,  and  they  that  have 
done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of  damnation."^ 
Is  it  not  astonishing  that  you  can  hear  such 
things  from  the  lips  of  Him  who  so  loved  the 
world  as  to  die  for  it,  and  that  you  should 
still  remain  unmoved  ? 

Be  convinced,  careless  reader,  that  there  is 

1  2  Cor.  6:2.  2  Psalra  95  :  8.  3  John  5  :  28,  29. 

49 


6  THE   UNAWAKENED. 

nothing  so  unreasonable  as  to  remain  un- 
awakened,  wlien  called  by  Almighty  God. 
Awakening  truths  come  near  on  every  side, 
sounding  from  heaven,  earth,  and  hell.  There 
are  cases  in  which  fear  is  unreasonable,  but 
this  is  not  one  of  them.  No  man  can  ration- 
ally despise  the  "  wrath  of  the  Lamb."  He 
who  dies  in  his  sins,  dies  in  rejection  of  the 
only  sacrifice  for  sin.  The  dread  of  so  dying 
ought  to  take  hold  of  your  heart  while  you 
read.  Those  terrible  denunciations  against 
sinners,  from  which  they  turn  away,  lest  con- 
science should  be  shaken  from  its  slumber, 
proceed  not  from  the  mouth  of  a  harsh,  malig- 
nant being,  but  from  the  meek  and  lowly 
Jesus,  who  weeps  over  lost  souls.  It  ought 
to  prove  a  pungent  consideration  that  of  all  the 
expressions  which  Scripture  contains  concern- 
ing everlasting  wo,  the  most  fearful  are  those 
which  fell  from  the  gentle  lips  of  Jesus.  A 
little  searching  of  the  sacred  volume  will  show 
this  to  be  true.  The  Eedeemer  spake  these 
threatenings  in  love,  and  the  thought  of  this 
should  break  the  dream  of  indolent  security. 
Christ's  terrors  are  meant  to  alarm  you  out 
of  your  sins  and  your  false  confidence,  and  so 
to  make  way  f^r  His  tender  mercies.  But 
50 


THE    UNAWAKENED.  7 

Lis  mercies  are  exhibited  to  the  unreconciled 
only  in  the  present  life ;  and  your  tenure  of 
human  existence,  fellow-sinner,  is  very  slight 
and  precarious. 

To  remain  unawakened  is  madness  itself, 
unless  the  Omniscient  can  be  evaded,  and  the 
Omnipotent  set  at  nought.    "  Be  not  deceived ; 
God  is  not  mocked;  for  whatsoever  a  man 
soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap."^    Beware, 
lest  God,  long  put  off  and  thrust  aside,  swear 
in  his  wrath  that  you  shall  not  enter  into  his 
rest.    The  downfall  of  the  secure  is  sometimes 
precipitous.     "  He  that,  being  often  reproved, 
hardeneth  his  neck,  shall  suddenly  be  de- 
stroyed, and  that  without  remedy."  This  hard- 
ening is  produced  by  a  continued  process  of 
.hearing  God's  call  without  heeding  it.     How 
knowest  thou,  0  sinner !  but  that  the  sentence 
hath  already  gone  forth  against  thee :  "  Cut  it 
down ;    why   cumbereth    it    the    ground  ?" 
There  is  a  point  at  which  Mercy,  after  many 
pleadings    for    the    impenitent  soul,   stands 
aside  and  suffers  Justice  to  take  its  course. 
Continu^ed    and  obdurate  resistance  to  the 
blood  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  is  no  venial  sin  in 

1  Gal.  G  :  '7. 
51 


t  THE  UNA  WAKENED. 

the  sight  of  God.  Thej  who  reject  this  Me- 
diator need  look  for  no  other.  "  Let  us  there- 
fore fear,  lest,  a  promise  being  left  us  of  en- 
tering into  his  rest,  any  of  you  should  seem 
to  come  short  of  it."  That  measure  of  con- 
cern for  sin,  of  which  you  are  conscious  while 
you  read  these  words,  is  caused  by  the  Spirit 
of  God.  Take  heed  how  you  trifle  with  this 
monition.  The  sacred  fire  within  may,  by 
your  neglect  or  transgression,  have  been  re- 
duced to  a  single  coal ;  a  single  beam  of  light 
touching  your  ruined  state  may  glimmer 
within.  *'  Quench  not  the  Spirit."  There 
are  critical  moments  in  every  biography ;  in- 
stants on  which  are  suspended  heaven  and 
hell.  Every  lost  soul  has  had  a  dast  call. 
There  is  a  possibility  that  this  is  yours. . 
Therefore  resist  not  the  Holy  Ghost.^  How 
awful  the  moment  in  which  an  immortal 
spirit  is  left  of  God  I  The  victim  of  impeni- 
tent procrastination  may  be  as  little  aware  of 
his  doom,  as  was  Samson  when  "he  wist  not 
that  the  Lord  was  departed  from  him."  What 
though  no  cloud  of  holy  angels  be  seen  with 
averted  faces  slowly  to  return  from  their  watch 

1  Acts  (f  :  51. 
52 


THE  FNAWAKENED.  9 

beside  the  sinner  ?  What  though  no  mutter- 
ing thunder  rolls  its  portentous  signal  of  wo 
along  the  horizon  ?  What  though  no  gigan- 
tic scales,  held  out  from  high  heaven,  bear 
the  inscription  :  "  Mene,  thou  art  weighed  in 
the  balances  and  art  found  wanting."  The 
deed  is  nevertheless  done  ;  the  book  of  divine 
offers  is  closed ;  the  last  whisper  of  gospel 
persuasion  has  died  awaj.  For  some,  this 
epoch  coincides  with  the  instant  of  dying.- 
WTio  shall  say,  that  for  others  it  may  not  fall 
in  with  some  earher  moment  of  life  ?  The 
very  hint  of  such  a  possibility  might  well 
electrify  the  stupid  heart.  Do  not  say  there 
'  need  be  no  haste,  but  go,  0  lingerer !  to  thy 
knees  I  and,  bewaiHng  thy  impenitent  mind, 
yield  thyself  to  God. 

To  be  unawakened,  is  the  more  sinful  and 
hazardous,  at  a  time  like  this,  when  the  com- 
munity is  moved,  even  the  heart  of  the  peo- 
ple, "  as  the  trees  of  the  wood  are  moved 
with  the  wind."  Is  the  Great  King  among 
us,  of  a  truth?  Then  is  it  time  for  every 
living  soul  to  be  up  and  doing.  Think  you 
the  blind,  the  halt,  the  maimed,  the  palsied 
and  the  leprous  lay  asleep,  when  the  Son  of 
David  was  passing  through  the  highways  of 
53 


10  THE   UNAWAKENED. 

G-alilee  and  Judea  on  liis  errands  of  mercy  ? 
As  little  should  the  ungodly  be  sunk  in  apa- 
thy when  the  Lord,  by  His  Spirit,  is  putting 
forth  awakening  energy  in  our  churches. 
He  who  slumbers  through  such  sh^ikings, 
dishonors  God  and  endangers  his  own  soul. 
To  go  untouched  through  an  extensive  re- 
vival of  religion,  is  to  be  distinguished  in  a 
fearful  way.  Thus  we  have  seen  the  tall 
"trunk  blackened  and  scathed  by  lightning, 
rearing  itself  among  the  trees  of  the  forest. 
Is  it  your  case,  dear  reader  ?  You  have  list- 
ened cold  and  hard  to  the  "Word  of  God, 
which  has  been  to  others  "  as  a  fire,  and  like 
a  hammer,  that  breaketh  the  rock  in  pieces."^ 
You  have  been  present  during  devotions,  in 
which  the  hearts  of  believers  have  flowed  like 
molten  gold.  You  have  been  singled  out  for 
the  prayers  of  the  church ;  but  you  have 
wrought  mightily  against  those  prayers,  by 
your  hard  and  impenitent  heart.  If  you 
perish  after  all,  it  will  not  be  by  the  common 
lot  of  the  lost. 

Consent  to  meditate,  to  consider,  and  to  re- 
turn.    Our  hope  of  this  result  leads  us  to  ad- 

1  Jer.  23  :  29. 
54 


THE  UNAWAKENED.  H 

dress  even  the  hardened  :  "If  perad venture 
God  will  give  them  repentance  to  the  acknow- 
ledging of  the  truth;  and  that  they  may 
awake  themselves  out  of  the  snare  of  the 
devil,  who  are  taken  captive  bj  him  at  his 


There  is  a  time,  we  know  not  when, 
A  point,  we  know  not  where. 

That  marks  the  destiny  of  men 
To  glory  or  despah-. 

There  is  a  hne,  by  us  unseen, 

That  crosses  every  path  ; 
The  hidden  boundary  between 

God's  patience  and  his  wrath. 

To  pass  that  Hmit  is  to  die, 

To  die  as  if  by  stealth ; 
It  does  not  quench  the  beaming  eye, 

Or  pale  the  glow  of  health. 

The  conscience  may  be  still  at  ease, 

The  spirits  light  and  gay ; 
That  which  is  pleasing  still  may  please, 

And  care  be  thrust  away. 

But  on  that  forehead  God  has  set, 

Indehbly,  a  mark, 
Unseen  by  man,  for  man  as  yet 

■  Is  blind  and  in  the  dark. 

1  2  Tim.  2  :  26,  margin. 
55 


12  THE  UN  AWAKENED. 

And  yet  the  doomed  man's  path  below, 
Like  Eden,  may  have  bloomed ; 

He  did  not,  does  not,  will  not  know 
Or  feel  that  he  is  doomed. 

Ho  knows,  he  feels,  that  all  is  well, 

And  every  fear  is  calmed  : 
He  Uves,  he  dies,  he  wakes  in  hell, 

Not  only  doomed,  but  damned. 

Oh  1  where  is  this  mysterious  bourae, 
By  which  our  path  is  crossed ; 

Beyond  which  God  himself  hath  sworn 
That  he  who  goes  is  lost  ? 

How  fivr  may  we  go  on  in  sin  ? 

How  long  will  God  forbear  ? 
Where  does  hope  end  ?  and  where  begin 

The  confines  of  despair  ? 

An  answer  from  the  skies  is  sent : 
"  Ye  that  from  God  depart ! 
While  it  is  called  to-day,  repent  I 
And  harden  not  your  heart" 


50 


HARDEN  NOT  YOUR  HEART. 


1.  There  is  sucli  a  tiling  as  vaguely  ad- 
mitting a  statement  to  be  true,  and  yet  not 
receiving  it  so  as  to  act  upon  it.  This  is 
practical  unbelief.  A  man  is  in  the  babit 
of  using  intoxicating  drinks  without  restraint. 
His  medical  adviser  lays  before  his  eyes  an 
old  age  of  decrepitude,  pain,  or  palsy.  His 
spiritual  adviser  points  out  to  him  the  im- 
pending evil  of  drunkenness.  He  is  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  convinced,  but  his  practice  re- 
mains the  same.  One  who  labors  under  an 
insidious  disease,  is  told  that  unless  immediate 
means  be  used,  it  will  probably  prove  fatal. 
He  half  believes,  but  flatters  himself,  and  goes 
on  as  before.  A  rash  adventurer  in  merchan- 
dise is  warned  that  his  speculation  will  end 
in  bankruptcy ;  yet  he  pushes  forward  and 
runs  upon  the  catastrophe.  These  are  fami- 
57 


2       HARDEN  NOT  YOUR  HEART. 

liar  instances.  But  still  more  common  and 
still  more  deplorable  is  the  same  blindness  in 
regard  to  eternal  realities.  The  sinner  admits 
that  he  is  unprepared  to  die  and  in  peril  of 
eternal  wrath ;  and  if  he  believed  this  with 
the  power  of  his  mind,  he  would  be  convulsed 
with  agony.  But  there  is  nothing  influential 
in  his  vague  persuasions,  and  therefore  they 
do  not  deserve  the  name  of  faith.  Thus  he 
hardens  his  heart. 

2.  Men  are  kept  from  beheving  by  their 
supposed  interests,  prejudices,  and  passions. 
This  is  an  admitted  principle  in  the  philosophy 
of  evidence,  recognized  in  alL  legislation  and 
jurisprudence.  Why  is  a  man  deemed  in- 
competent to  decide  in  a  case  which  involves 
his  own  interest  ?  Not  merely  because  it  is 
feared  he  will  deliberately  judge  against  his 
sincere  convictions  of  the  truth ;  this  were  a 
shallow  and  superficial  explanation  ;  but  be- 
cause his  bias  will  actually  influence  him  to 
believe  what  is  untrue.  Twelve  men  in  a 
jury-box  hear  precisely  the  same  evidence ; 
yet  one  of  them,  who  is  secretly  but  deeply 
concerned,  hears  all  at  a  disadvantage,  and 
comes  to  a  conclusion  adverse  to  the  truth  of 
the  case.  Which  of  us  is  able  with  perfect 
58 


HARDEN  NOT  YOUR  HEART.       3 

candor  to  credit  testimony  against  his  own 
cliild  as  freely  as  against  a  stranger  ?  Here 
is  a  wide  field  for  the  operation  of  our  inborn 
depravity,  in  hardening  the  heart  against  the 
truth  of  God.  By  a  perverse  abstraction,  we 
hear  all  on  one  side.  We  lend  an  ear  to  that 
part  of  the  evidence  and  argument  which  is 
favorable  to  what  we  have  predetermined. 
We  are  deaf  to  reasons  on  the  other  part, 
which,  to  a  mind  not  preoccupied,  would  be 
demonstrative. 

8.  Closely  connected  with  this  is  the  power 
which  the  mind  has  of  turning  itself  awajj^ 
from  that  which  is  unpleasant.  The  edge  of 
the  thoughts  may  be  averted,  first  from  the 
testimony  or  the  reasons,  and  then  from  the 
partially  admitted  truth.  We  may  withhold 
our  attention,  or  bestow  it  upon  something 
else.  It  is  not  enough  that  truth  be  held  be- 
fore the  mind  for  an  instant.  There  must  be 
consideration,  in  order  to  influence  the  will 
and  the  life.  Momentary  flashes  of  belief  are 
ineffectual.  The  seal  must  not  only  touch, 
but  for  a  season  abide  upon  the  waxen  sur- 
face. Eeligious  truth  is  robbed  of  its  power 
when  the  mind  refuses  to  ponder  on  it ;  and 
then  the  heart  is  hardened.  Many  an  urgent 
59 


4       HAKDEN  NOT  YOUR  HEART. 

message  of  God's  Word  strikes  with  a  ray  of 
conviction,  but  the  mind  shrinks  and,  as  it 
were,  closes  its  eyes.  For  this  voluntary  ex- 
clusion the  soul  is  of  course  deeply  responsi- 
ble. These  acts  are  repeated  thousands  of 
times  during  an  impenitent  life. 

4.  But  perhaps  the  most  common  method 
of  hardening  the  heart,  and  that  to  which  the 
words  of  the  text  are  most  specially  directed, 
is  that  of  procrastination.  The  mind  for  a 
moment  admits  the  truth  and  puts  it  off. 
This  is  precisely  the  same  in  its  effects  as  de- 
gjiberate  rejection.  Often  repeated,  it  becomes 
a  habit  of  the  soul,  and  effectually  prevents 
salvation.  The  resolution  not  to  hear  God 
now  is  involved  in  the  resolution  'to  hear  at 
some  other  time.  What  is  postponed  to-day, 
will  be  more  easily  postponed  to-morrow,  and 
so  life  slips  away.  Old  age  is  more  enslaved 
by  the  evil  habit  than  childhood  and  youth. 
Thus  the  arch-enemy  gains  his  point;  the 
heart  is  hardened  and  the  door  of  mercy  is 
allowed  to  close.  And  it  is  the  destructive 
influence  of  this  treacherous  temper,  which  is 
opposed  by  the  words  of  the  Holy  One  crying 
in  our  ears :  "  To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice, 
harden  not  your  hearts  !" 
60 


HAKDEN.  NOT  YOUR  HEART.       5 

Let  me  call  the  reader's  attention  to  this 
part  of  the  solemn  admonition. 

1.  To-day  then  is  the  best  time  for  opening 
the  heart  to  divine  impressions,  because  iti^ 
GocVs  time.    He  is  a  sovereign,  and  it  is  won- 
derful that  he  should  treat  with  us  at  all ;  but 
when  he  does  so,  we  must  surely  admit  his 
authority  to  fix  his  own  time.     Especially 
when  the  communication  to  which  he  asks 
our  response  is  one  of  abounding  mercy.     He 
demands  the  heart  noio  ;  he  offers  pardon  and 
renewal  noic.     If  it  is  ignominious  to  disre- 
gard the  entreaties  of  a /HencZ,  how  guHty  are 
those  who  turn  away  from  the  beseechmgs  of 
their  God  and  Saviour  1     If  we  were  to  treat 
the  proposals  of  a  fellow-mortal  in  this  man- 
ner he  would  leave  our  doors  and  shake  off 
the'  dust  of  his  feet  against  us.     Is  there  no 
malionity  then  in  the  sin  of  asking  God,  our 
offended  Lord,  to  await  our  good  pleasures* 
He  knocks,  but  the  hard  heart  will  not  admit 

him. 

2  To-DAY  is  the  time,  because  U)-morrow 
the  heart  will  he  harder.  Delay  increases  the 
indisposition  to  return.  The  conscience  ac- 
quires armor,  and  becomes  skilkd  to  ward 
off  the  sword  of  the  Spirit.  The  history  of 
61 


6       HARDEN  NOT  YOUR  HEART. 

every  soul  shows  this  to  be  true ;  your  own 
case  shows  it.  There  have  been  days,  and 
memory  recalls  them  well,  in  which  you  had 
no  peace  by  reason  of  your  sins.  You  thought 
of  little  else  for  a  season ;  you  read  and  prayed 
and  strove.  Those  days  are  far  away  in  the 
distant  past.  Scripture  and  sermons  and 
providential  warnings  find  you  less  penetra- 
ble than  you  were.  Should  not  this  warn 
you  against  further  procrastination?  You 
complain  that  it  is  difficult  to  yield  yourself 
unreservedly  to  God.  Oh  !  betray  not  your 
souls  by  the  belief  that  delay  will  make  it  less 
difficult.  There  are  those  in  whom  the  dis- 
position to  defer  divine  subjects  has  become 
from  habit  almost  a  part  of  their  nature. 
They  are  steeled  against  every  weapon,  for 
long  continuance  in  an  evil  way  has  made 
the  heart  hard,  and  there  is  nothing  they  re- 
gard so  little  as  the  voice  of  God. 

3.  Harden  not  the  heart  TO-DAY,  because  to- 
morrow the  number  and  aggravation  of  your 
sins  loill  he  increased ;  and  they  will  go  on 
increasing.  Are  they  not  sufficiently  numer- 
ous ?  and  is  not  their  crimson  hue  sufficiently 
deep  ?  If  you  could  bring  yourself  to  call 
them  up  in  order,  you  would  soon  be  over- 
62 


HARDEN  NOT  YOUR  HEART.       7 

whelmed.     Is  it  not  the  exquisite  painfulness 
of  this  survey  which  causes  you  to  resist  the 
light?     Be  not  deceived.    Eemorse  will  over- 
take you,  either  in  this  world  or  in  that  which 
is  to  come.     You  do  but  act  the  part  of  an 
unthrifty  debtor,  who  avoids  settlement  and 
plunges  yet  more  deeply  towards  his  ruin. 
Every  new  page  in  the  book  of  God's  account 
adds  to  the  wrath  and  terror  of  your  future 
reckoning.     Most  who  read  this  have  already 
lived  the  greater  part  of  their  time  on  earth, 
and  some  are  very  near  the  great  tribunal. 
During  all  this  period  there  has  been  an  ac- 
cumulation of  guilt — mountains  of  unpardoned 
sin.     Why  should  you  add  to  the  dreadful 
mass  ?    To-day,  God  comes  with  offers  of  par- 
don.    To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  he 
is  ready  to  be  reconciled.     Though  you  have 
repeatedly  refused    him,  yet    to-day  he   is 
willing  to  enter  into  your  heart.     Why  should 
he  find  it  locked  against  him?     Why  will 
you  continue  to  offend,  and  add  transgression 
to  transgression  ?     Consider,  moreover,  from 
this  time  forward  your  acts  of  disobedience 
acquire  an  additional  quality  of  turpitude ;  for 
they  will  be  committed  against  clearer  light 
and  newer  mercies,  after  fresh  strivings  of  the 
63 


8       HARDEN  NOT  YOUR  HEART. 

Spirit,  and  with  deeper  wounds  of  conscience. 
And  the  oftener  you  have  been  ineffectually 
wrought  upon  by  divine  considerations,  the 
more  direct  will  be  your  opposition  to  the 
truth,  and  the  more  heinously  culpable  the 
hardening  of  your  heart. 

4.  To-day  is  the  only  safe  time,  for  to-morrow 
you  may  he  in  eternity.  Life  is  uncertain. 
"  Boast  not  thyself  of  to-morrow,  for  thou 
knowest  not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth." 
"  He  that  being  often  reproved  hardeneth  his 
neck,  shall  suddenly  be  destroyed,  and  that 
without  remedy."  Behold  now  is  the  accepted 
time ;  behold  now  is  the  day  of  salvation. 
Can  you  reasonably  expect  God  to  wait  the 
movements  of  an  impenitent  heart,  which  per- 
petually renders  him  nothing  but  denials  for 
all  his  proposals  of  grace?  How  dreadful 
would  be  the  narrative,  if  I  could  unfold  it, 
of  those  who  have  been  summoned  away  in 
the  midst  of  these  procrastinations !  The 
moment  when  they  vainly  promised  them- 
selves that  they  would  open  their  hearts  to 
the  divine  visitant,  found  them  beyond  the 
reach  of  hope.  You  are  conscious  that  you 
stand  in  dread  of  death,  and  yet  you  madly 
refuse  the  only  gift  which  can  disarm  death 
64 


HARDEN  NOT  YOUR  HEART.       9 

of  his  horrors.  The  part  of  wisdom  is  to  leave 
nothing  to  hazard.  The  argument  is  so  con- 
vincing that  none  can  seriously  persevere  in 
considering  it,  without  an  increase  of  feeling, 
and  hence  you  turn  away  from  it — ^in  other 
words,  you  harden  the  heart.  Yet  I  press  it, 
earnestly  and  affectionately,  once  again,  know- 
ing that  in  the  hand  of  God  it  has  been  used 
to  bring  many  a  rebel  to  his  right  mind. 
This  dream  of  tD-morrow^  if  unbroken  by  an 
unusual  effort,  will  wrap  you  in  its  delusions 
until  your  last  breath. 

5.  Eepent  to-day,  because  refusal  so  to  do 
is  inconsistent  luith  a  desire  to  repent.  Uncon- 
verted persons  never  more  deceive  themselves 
than  when  they  plead  that  they  have  a  sin- 
cere wish  to  return  to  God.  If  you  credit 
their  assertions,  there  is  nothing  which  they 
so  strongly  desire  as  to  have  experience  of 
true  religion.  But  such  a  desire,  if  genuine, 
would  instantly  break  up  all  these  habits  of 
indolent  lingering.  He  who  desires  to  be 
healed,  flies  to  the  physician.  He  who  means 
to  escape  shipwreck,  loses  not  a  moment  in 
lashing  himself  to  some  buoyant  material. 
He  who  craves  deliverance  from  conflagration, 
instantly  rushes  from  amidst  the  flaming  tim- 
65 


10  HARDEN   NOT  YOUR  HEART. 

bers.  And  lie  who  longs  to  be  saved,  puts 
aside  every  other  interest  and  engagement  as 
unimportant,  and  devotes  all  the  energies  of 
his  soul  to  this  single  point,  that  he  may  es- 
cape from  the  wrath  to  come.  How  remark- 
ably do  we  see  it  exemplified,  when  any  man  is 
under  conviction  of  sin.  Away  with  all  in- 
difference or  carnal  waiting,  at  such  an  hour. 
He  reads,  he  prays,  he  looks  in  every  direc- 
tion for  help,  he  uses  every  means,  he  thinks 
of  nothing  else.  Here  is  a  case  of  real  desire 
to  return  to  God.  And  the  absence  of  all  this, 
especially  the  deliberate  purpose  to  adjourn 
the  whole  inquiry  and  remain  longer  under 
condemnation,  is  demonstrative  that  there  is 
no  reality  of  desire.  Let  not  this  hollow  fal- 
lacy delude  you.  These  are  not  the  fruits 
and  tokens  of  strong  desire,  and  if  you  can 
plan  a  postponement  of  your  greatest  concern, 
you  must  have  learned  to  harden  the  heart. 
There  is  no  remedy  but  immediate  acceptance 
of  God's  word. 

6.  Eepent  to-day,  O  my  hearer!  let  me 
finally  urge,  because  rejoeiitance  is  the  gift  of 
God.  You  sometimes  plead  the  difficulties 
of  the  work  and  your  own  helplessness  as  a 
reason  for  delay.  But  surely  this  should  be 
GO 


HARDEN  NOT  YOUR  HEART.      11 

mightily  operative  in  the  other  direction.    If 
God,  whose  voice  is  heard  saying,  To-day^  to- 
day, is  the  only  Being  who  can  effect  the  great 
change,  then  -you  are  in  his  sovereign  hands 
and  at  his  absolute  mercy.     If  he  were  un- 
willing to  receive  your  returning   soul,  he 
surely  would  not  limit  a  certain  time  as  the 
accepted  period.     To-day,  we  may  assure  you, 
he  is  ready  to  give  repentance  and  remission 
of  sins.     For  future  days  he  makes  no  pro- 
mises.    Your  sins  are  great,  but  he  desireth 
not  the  death  of  the  wicked.     Cast  yourself 
in  absolute  surrender  before  him  whom  you 
have  offended.     Throw  your  guilty  soul  into 
the  arms  of  his  beloved  Son.     Myriads  now 
in  heaven  owe  their  salvation  to  this  very 
course.     Why  should  he  urge  you  with  his 
messages,  and  plead  with  you  to  make  this 
the  blessed  moment,  if  there  were  not  mercies 
in  his  heart  ?     Why  this  unwonted  serious- 
ness, and  this  weight  of  solemn  thought,  ex- 
cept from  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who 
will  not  allow  you  to  remain  unreproved? 
Eemember,  I  beseech  you,  that  all  who  have 
become  believers  were  once  in  the  condition  in 
which  you  now  are.     They  felt  the  difficul- 
ties which  you  now  feel.     They  suffered  your 
C7 


12     HAEDEN  NOT  YOUR  HEART. 

perplexity  and  groped  in  your  darkness. 
They  were  tempted  to  put  off  the  day  of  sub- 
mitting to  the  righteousness  of  God,  as  you 
are  now  tempted.  But  mark  it  well,  they 
were  brought  to  a  point  where  further  delay 
was  impossible.  And  had  they  not  been 
brought  to  this,  they  had  never  been  saved. 
The  pressure  was  momentous  and  irresistible. 
They  were  driven  to  this  yielding.  Sin  was 
intolerable.  "Wrath  was  overhanging  and  in- 
supportable. They  saw  before  them  a  yawn- 
ing gulf.  The  gleam  of  light  on  their  heart 
and  their  path  was  so  dazzling  that  they  felt 
that  any  procrastination  would  be  an  impious 
abandoning  of  God.  To  remain  in  the  plain 
of  condemnation  any  longer  they  saw  to  be 
ruin.  Nothing  was  left  to  them  but  the  one 
determination — and  they  made  it. 

It  is  the  voice  of  God  your  Eedeemer 
which  is  sounding  in  your  ears.  Think 
not  of  him  as  an  austere  Judge,  but  as 
a  compassionate  Father,  offering  you  the 
tender  mercies  of  his  Son.  The  whole  work 
of  Christ  is  made  over  to  you  in  the  offer  of 
the  Gospel  for  your  cordial  acquiescence,  and 
that  cordial  acquiescence  is  saving  faith.  All 
is  yours  upon  your  believing.  Abandon  your 
68 


HARDEN  NOT  YOUR  HEART.      13 

own  works  and  duties,  your  own  innocence 
and  morality,  your  own  merits  and  righteous- 
ness, your  own  strivings,  emotions,  and  tears. 
Abandon  forever  the  vain  effort  to  render 
yourselves  more  acceptable.  Come  in  the  one 
character  which  belongs  to  you,  that  of  a 
corrupt,  lost,  and  helpless  sinner.  Come  out 
of  yourselves,  and  find  all  in  Christ.  Now, 
while  the  Word  is  near  you ;  now,  while  the 
seal  of  truth  is  pressed  upon  the  somewhat 
yielding  heart,  give  way  to  the  impression 
and  yield  yourself  to  God.  Why  should  not 
this  be  the  happy  moment,  since  all  things  are 
ready  except  your  unrelenting  soul  ?  To-day^ 
if  ye  will  hear  His  voice,  harden  not  your 
hearts !  There  will  never  be  a  freer  access  ; 
there  will  never  be  a  more  present  Saviour. 
The  work,  so  long  delayed,  may  be  accom- 
plished here  and  now,  and  your  weight  of  sin 
will  thenceforward  be  taken  away  wholly  and 
forever. 


69 


VARIETIES  IN  ANXIOUS  INQUIRY. 


There  are  family  traits  in  those  who  are 
born  into  tlie  kingdom,  but  great  diversity 
marks  the  individual  features  and  expression. 
THs  may  be  profitably  studied  during  a 
Eevival  of  Eeligion.  This  sameness  and  di- 
versity are  in  nothing  more  remarkable  than 
in  the  way  of  coming  from  Satan  to  Grod ; 
and  even  more  particularly  in  the  anxiety, 
fear,  and  grief  of  the  approach.  The  Male- 
factor on  the  Cross  and  the  Philippian  Jailer 
both  had  their  convictions,  but  how  unlike ! 
Saul  of  Tarsus  and  the  Ethiopian  courtier  of 
Queen  Candace  are  aroused  amidst  unlike  cir- 
cumstances. Solitary  Cornelius,  and  the 
thousands  at  Pentecost,  have  remarkable  re- 
semblances and  differences.  The  same  is  true 
of  Lydia,  Timothy,  and  other  subjects  of  con- 
version  named   in  Scripture.      Inexperience 

would  have  all  converts  to  bear  its  own  favorite 
10 


VARIETIES  IX  AXXIOUS  IXQUIRY. 

Stamp ;  but  the  Spirit  of  God  works  with  a 
lavish,  manifold,  and  magnificent  variety, 
which  it  is  our  province  devoutly  to  admire. 
So  also  it  is  in  modern  awakenings. 

If  we  love  to  contemplate  the  unity  in  va- 
riety which  beautifully  illustrates  Divine  skill, 
power,  and  bounty  in  the  kinds  and  species  of 
the  animal  kingdom,  much  more  should  we 
gaze  with  intensity  of  interest  upon  the  strange 
but  gracious  examples  of  spiritual  operation 
in  the  saving  of  souls.  While  what  is  said 
holds  good  of  all  such  operations,  we  may 
profitably  confine  our  view  to  the  diJfferent 
aspects  of  anxiety  among  inquirers. 

There  are  some  things  present  in  almost 
every  case  of  awakening.  In  whatsoever 
place,  time,  or  circumstances  you  were  brought 
to  consideration,  you  had  a  consciousness  of 
being  wrong  and  of  being  wretched.  You 
felt  yourself  in  danger,  and  believed  you  must 
do  something  to  escape.  The  thought  of  the 
glorious  God  overhung  your  path,  and  caused 
you  to  meditate  on  your  sins.  But  the  de- 
grees of  this  solicitude  vary  exceedingly ;  from 
slight  ruffling  of  the  sensibilities  to  utter  des- 
peration. 

The  man  may  be  named,  who  went  careless 
71 


VARIETIES  IN  ANXIOUS  INQUIRY. 

f 

into  a  religious  meeting,  and  came  out  with 
an  arrow  in  his  heart.  Another  has  been 
deeply  pierced  by  a  question  from  a  child's 
lips.  The  bare  tidings  of  the  conversion  of  such 
or  such  a  person  may  bring  sudden  conviction 
to  the  hearer ;  and  the  report  of  great  num- 
bers seeking  God  in  one  place  often  stimulates 
attention,  and  so  prostrates  the  sinner.  No- 
thing is  oftener  blessed  to  this  end  than  some 
sentence  of  the  preached  Word.  The  opening 
of  the  Bible  at  an  unexpected  place  may  sting 
a  man  into  anguish.  The  word  Eternity,  at 
the  head  of  a  tract,  is  said  to  have  smitten  a 
fashionable  sinner.  One  of  the  most  eminent 
and  long-tried  saints  we  ever  knew  was 
brought  to  serious  consideration  in  a  ball- 
room. The  late  eminently  pious  Francis 
Markoe  was  led,  not  to  conviction  only,  but  to 
salvation,  on  one  and  the  same  day,  in  his 
solitary  apartment;  having  up  to  this  time 
been  without  any  religious  impressions.  The 
convictions  of  St.  Augustine  may  be  read  in 
his  '  Confessions/  or  in  Milner.  Thousands 
have  owed  theii  awakening  to  the  simplest 
accost  of  a  loving  friend,  uttered  with  prayer 
and  love. 

The  views  taken  by  awakened  souls  are 
U 


VARIETIES  IN  ANXIOUS  INQUIRY. 

different.  Some  are  struck  down  as  was 
Saul ;  others  come  gradually  to  a  simple  judg- 
ment, by  no  means  strong  at  first,  that  they 
are  in  a  wrong  way  of  life.  If  a  shaking, 
wavering  conviction,  the  chronic  trouble  of 
common  days,  does  not  rise  to  acute  distress 
in  the  time  of  Kevival,  it  will  be  likely  to  de- 
part without  good  results. 

It  is  a  great  error  of  ignorant  and  inexperi- 
enced persons,  to  predetermine  how  much  or 
how  little  shall  be  the  terror  and  grief  of  a 
convinced  soul.  To  determine  this,  is  the 
prerogative  of  God.  He  may  come  in  the 
great  and  strong  wind,  the  earthquake,  the 
fire,  or  in  the  stiU,  small  voice.^  "Some," 
says  the  venerable  annalist  of  the  ^'  Great  Ke- 
vival," in  New-England,  *'  are  from  the  be- 
ginning carried  on  with  abundantly  more  en- 
couragement and  hope  than  others.  Some 
have  had  ten  times  less  trouble  of  mind  than 
others,  in  whom  yet  the  issue  seems  to  be  the 
same.  Some  have  had  such  a  sense  of  the  dis- 
pleasure of  God,  and  the  great  danger  they 
were  in  of  damnation,  that  they  could  not 
sleep;  and  many  have  said  that  when  they 
lay  down,  the  thoughts  of  sleeping  in  such  a 

1  1  Klny,^  20  :  11.  12 
70 


VAEIETIES  IN  ANXIOUS  INQUIRY. 

condition  have  been  £riglitf\il  to  them,  and 
thej  have  scarcely  been  free  from  terror  while 
they  have  been  asleep,  and  have  awakened 
with  fear,  heaviness,  and  distress,  still  abiding 
'on  their  fepirits.  It  has  been  very  common, 
that  the  deep  and  fixed  concern  that  has  been 
on  persons'  minds  has  had  a  painfril  influence 
on  their  bodies,  and  given  disturbance  to 
animal  nature." 

The  Law  of  God,  applied  to  the  mind  and 
conscience,  is  that  which  works  conviction. 
Hence  the  preaching  of  the  Law  precedes  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel,  and  is  indispensable. 
Views  of  the  infinite  Justice  of  God  are  never 
wanting,  in  sound  convictions,  although  as  to 
accessories  and  degree,  these  views  may  diJBfer. 
Many  who  are  in  truth  brought  very  low,  by 
the  convincing  Spirit,  are  under  an  illusion 
and  go  about  lamenting  that  they  can  not  feel 
In  others,  there  is  a  silent,  but  profound  and  im 
movable  self-judgment,  in  regard  to  the  abid- 
ing state  of  sin  and  consequent  anger  of  God. 

If  we  examine  the  direction  of  that  wind 
which  "bloweth  where  it  listeth,"  we  shall 
find  it  uniformly  setting  towards  self-remincia- 
tion.  "  I  am  in  the  hands  of  a  sovereign  God," 
is  the  language  of  the  sinner.  The  blasts  of 
74 


VARIETIES  IN  ANXIOUS  INQUIRY. 

the  law  are  driving  liim  away  from  self-de- 
pendence to  reliance  on  God.     "  They  that  be 
whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are 
sick."i   ^He  is  becoming  "sick"  by  the  law; 
yea  he  is  becoming  "  dead."^    Hear  the  groan- 
ing of  such  a  one,  in  his  secret  chamber  :  O 
Lord !  help,  or  I  perish !     Without  a  Medi- 
ator, I  am  lost,  lost  forever.     By  the  beams 
of  thy  holy  and  immutable  law,  I  see  myself 
depraved  and  guilty.     The  stirring  up  of  en- 
mity within  me  shows  me  to  myself  as  worse, 
rather  than  better.     Once  I  felt  only  my  out- 
ward sins  ;  now  the  rule  is  apphed  to  my  se- 
cret sins,  my  sins  of  purpose,  sentiment,  and 
thought,  my  habits  and  principles  of  sin,  nay 
my  inmost  state  of  sin  I    God  be  merciful  to 
me  a  sinner  I 

While  to  some  favored  souls  the  Lord  Jesus 
is  revealed  in  his  plenitude  of  saving  com- 
passion, from  the  very  beginning  of  their 
inquiring  state ;  to  others  he  seems  long  inac- 
cessible. The  sufferer  cries:  "Oh!  that  I  knew 
where  I  might  find  him !"  Kenewed  convic- 
tions lead  to  renewed  struggles.  There  are 
prayers,  tears,  and  groans,  with  abundant  en- 

1  Matt.  9  :  12.  2  CoL  3  :  3  ;  Rom.  T  :  9. 

75 


VARIETIES  IN  ANXIOUS  INQUIRY. 

deavors  to  make  tlie  heart  better,  whicli  all 
the  while  seems  to  grow  worse.  Those  exer- 
cises, in  which  perhaps  there  was  a  certain 
complacency  at  first,  lose  all  power  of  quieting 
the  conscience.  Thej  have  no  merit ;  they 
give  no  security.  So  far  jfrom  thinking  that 
they  are  in  a  better  way  on  account  of  these 
impressions  and  struggles,  convinced  souls  are 
deeply  persuaded  that  every  additional  mo- 
ment of  unbelief  adds  to  the  aggregate  of 
guilt.  Never  before,  it  may  be,  had  they  such 
self-abhorrence  and  despair  of  self-salvation 
as  amidst  the  boiling  corruptions  and  revealed 
impenitence  which  first  precedes  faith  and 
rescue.  "  Once,"  says  the  sinner,  "I  thought 
I  had  a  certain  amount  of  guilt,  and  I  tried  to 
wash  it  away.  Now  I  see  my  sins  innumera- 
ble, and  their  turpitude  immeasurable.  Unfit 
to  go  the  fountain,  I  lie  here  on  the  earth,  and 
cry,  Unclean,  unclean  !"  These  are  troubles 
out  of  which  only  Christ  can  deliver. 

Anguish  like  this  can  not  be  cured  by  any 
legal  performances.  Indeed,  the  chief  misery 
of  a  convinced  sinner  is,  that  he  finds  himself 
culpably  unable  to  do  the  works  of  the  law. 
"  I  have  seen  many,"  says  Luther,  "  who  have 
painfully  travailed,  and  under  stress  of  mere 


VARIETIES  IN  ANXIOUS  INQUIRY. 

conscience  liave  done  the  utmost  -that  was 
possible,  in  fasts,  prayers,  hair-shirts,  vexing 
and  punishing  the  body  with  sundry  penances,  • 
sufficient  at  length  to  destroy  a  frame  of 
iron ;  and  all  to  this  end,  that  they  might  gain 
quietness  and  peace  of  conscience.  Neverthe- 
less, the  more  they  wrought,  the  more  were 
they  stricken  down  with  dread.  Especially 
on  the  approach  of  death,  some  such  persons, 
though  they  had  lived  holily,  have  departed 
with  less  courage  than  I  have  seen  many  mur- 
derers and  other  criminals.  Therefore,  it  is 
most  true,  that  they  which  do  the  law,  do  it 
not."  But  despair  of  help  by  the  law  con- 
ducts to  the  free  grace  of  the  Grospel. 

The  gross  error  of  limiting  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  one  or  a  few  methods  of  working  in  impen- 
itent hearts,  is  more  common  than  some  sup- 
pose. Among  its  evil  consequences  one  is 
realized  by  inquirers  themselves.  Instead  of 
following  the  intimations  of  Divine  Wisdom 
in  the  Word,  in  respect  to  what  are  proper 
views  and  affections,  they  not  unfrequently 
prescribe  some  way  in  which  they  are  to  be 
converted.  They  will  hear  of  no  other. 
Their  predilection  for  this  way  has  been  de- 
rived from  tradition,  from  uninspired  books, 
77 


VARIETIES  IX  ANXIOUS   INQUIRY. 

or  from  common  talk.  All  sucli  expectations 
God  is  able  to  disappoint.  The  patlis  by 
whicli  He  leads  to  the  Strait  Gate  are  num- 
berless. He  who  looked  to  be  struck  dumb 
with  terror,  is  melted  all  at  once  by  love ; 
while,  perhaps,  he  who  meant  to  advance  ra- 
tionally, deliberately,  and  gradually,  is  trans- 
ported into  paroxysms  of  terror,  which  make 
him  tremble  for  his  reason.  But  all  the  vari- 
eties of  conviction  leave  the  soul  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  insufficiency  of  every  sacri- 
fice but  one.  "  Thou  desirest  not  sacrifice, 
else  would  I  give  it ;  thou  delightest  not  in 
burnt-offering.  The  sacrifices  of  God  are  a 
broken  spirit :  a  broken  and  a  contrite  heart, 
0  God  I  thou  wilt  not  despise."^ 

1  Psalm  51    16,  17. 


r& 


VARIETIES  IN  ANXIOUS  INQUIRY. 


The  Sinner's  Only  Hope. 

"Wherewith,  0  Lord !  shall  I  draw  near, 
And  bow  myself  before  thy  face  ? 

How  in  thy  purer  eyes  appear  ? 

"What  shall  I  bring  to  gain  thy  grace  ? 

"Will  gifts  delight  the  Lord  Most  High? 

Will  multiphed  oblations  please? 
Thousands  of  rams  his  favor  buy, 

Or  slaughtered  hecatombs  appease  ? 

Can  these  avert  the  wrath  of  God  ? 

Can  these  wash  out  my  guilty  stain  ? 
Rivers  of  oil,  and  seas  of  blood, 

Alas  I  they  all  must  flow  in  vain. 

"Who  would  himself  to  Thee  approve. 
Must  take  the  path  thyself  hast  showed ; 

Justice  pursue,  and  mercy  love, 

And  humbly  walk  by  faith  -svith  God. 

But  though  my  life  henceforth  be  thine, 
Present  for  past  can  ne'er  atone : 

Though  I  to  thee  the  whole  resign, 
I  only  give  thee  back  thine  own. 

Guilty  I  stand  before  thy  face ; 

On  me  I  feel  thy  wrath  abide ; 
'Tis  just  the  sentence  should  take  place ; 

'Tis  just— but  oh  1  thy  Son  hath  died  I 
10 


LOOKING    UNTO    JESUS. 


The  "words  wliicli  here  follow  are  not  for 
tlie  careless  hardened  sinner,  who  feels  no 
burden;  but  if  tbej  should  fall  under  the 
eye  of  one  who  groans  beneath  the  weight  of 
unpardoned  iniquity,  and  strives  to  find  de- 
liverance from  his  pollution,  then  they  have 
reached  the  very  end  for  which  they  were 
destined.  Let  me,  as  it  were,  sit  down  beside 
this  comfortless  one,  and,  Bible  in  hand,  point 
out  some  of  its  teachings  concerning  the  way 
to  be  saved ;  for  to  the  Scriptures  must  we 
go  directly  if  we  would  relieve  a  convinced 
soul,  who  can  rest  in  nothing  short  of  a  thus 
SAiTH  THE  Lord. 

When  Philip  joined  himself  to  a  certain 

chariot,  in  which  the  Ethiopian  courtier  was 

busied  over  a  scroll  of  the  prophets,  he  found 

the  place  of  Scripture  to  depict  a  suffering 

80 


LOOKING  UXTO  JESUS. 

Messiah}  To  this  very  point  must  we  bring 
every  solicitous  inquirer.  Beginning  at  that 
very  place  in  Isaiah,  Philip  "  preached  unto 
him  Jesus."  It  is  still  the  only  preaching 
which  can  quiet  conscience  and  give  peace. 
Isaiah's  single  prophetic  picture  of  the  Cross 
holds  up  the  saving  object.  Look  at  it,  as 
the  dying  Hebrew  looked  at  the  serpent  on 
the  pole !  Behold  the  Only-Begotten,  in  the 
Garden  and  on  the  accursed  tree,  for  thy  sake. 
For  thee,  He  is  "  a  man  of  sorrows  and  ac- 
quainted with  grief."  He  hath  borne  thy 
griefe  and  carried  thy  sorrows.  See  Him 
wounded  for  thy  transgressions,  bruised  for 
thy  iniquities,  laid  under  the  chastisement  of 
thy  peace,  lacerated  with  stripes  for  thy  heal- 
ing. Behold  Him  taking  thy  place.  "He 
was  oppressed  and  He  was  afflicted,  yet  he 
opened  not  His  mouth ;  He  is  brought  as  a 
lamb  to  the  slaughter,  and  as  a  sheep  before 
her  shearers  is  dumb,  so  He  openeth  not  His 
mouth."  See  and  acknowledge  with  faith 
that  "  the  Lord  hath  laid  on  Him  the  iniqui- 
ties of  us  all."  "  It  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise 
Him,"  to  put  Him  to  grief,  to  "  make  His 

Isa.  53;  Acts  9  :  27-39. 
81 


LOOKING  UNTO  JESUS. 

soul  an  offering  for  sin."  All  this  and  more 
is  in  the  single  chapter  which  Philip  expound- 
ed in  the  chariot.  It  was  enough  for  the 
Ethiopian ;  0  sinner,  it  is  enough  for  thee ! 
Eeject  all  other  refages,  and  come  at  once  to 
the  Cross. 

Are  you  still  doubting  ?  What  can  satisfy 
you,  if  God's  own  method,  in  God's  own  mes- 
sage, is  not  enough?  The  entire  Gospel  is 
only  a  variety  of  ways  in  which  to  say  :  "Be- 
hold the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the 
sin  of  the  world."^  Believe  that  God  sincerely 
offers  to  you  this  atonement ;  acquiesce  in  it; 
receive  it  as  your  own ;  rest  and  rely  on  it — 
and  you  are  saved  I 

Why,  0  halting  sinner !  this  delay?  Why, 
teside  the  very  fountain,  do  you  proudly  re- 
fuse to  stoop  and  drink?  Ah!  methinks  I 
hear  you  say  in  bitterness :  *'  Wo  is  me,  I  am 
lost  I"  Hearken  to  the  Word :  "  The  Son  of 
Man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which 
was  lost."^  Believe  that  He  came  to  save 
thee.  Again  you  cry:  "I  am  chief  of  sinners." 
Again  hear  the  Word :  "  This  is  a  faithful 
saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that 

1  John  1  :  29  2  Luke  19  :  10. 

82 


LOOKING  UNTO  JESUS. 

Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sin- 
ners, of  whom  I  am  chief."^  Come,  as  chief 
of  sinners,  and  accept  that  which  the  Apostle 
declares  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  and  there- 
fore worthy  of  thine.  "  I  am  ungodly !"  you 
rejoin;  "how  can  God  receive  the  ungodly?" 
Learn  from  His  own  answer :  "  Christ  died 
for  the  ungodly."^  But  I  am  under  just  con- 
demnation and  curse :  "  Christ  hath  redeemed 
us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a 
curse  for  us."^  Cast  your  wretched  soul  on 
this  truth  of  God,  that  Christ  has  borne  your 
curse,  when  he  bore  your  sins  "  in  his  own 
body  on  the  tree."  Do  you  still  urge:  "I 
am  already  doomed,  as  well  by  conscience  as 
law,  and  bound  over  unto  condign  punish- 
ment?" I  answer,  that  you  are  redeemed, 
and  that  God's  word  ought  to  satisfy  you ; 
redeemed  "with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ, 
as  of  a  lamb  without  blemish  and  without 
spot."**  Look  to  Jesus,  "  who  His  own  self 
bare  our  sins  in  His  own  body  on  the  tree."^ 
"But  how  can  I  be  justified  in  the  sight  of  a 
righteous  and  inflexible  Judge  ?"     Bead  the 

1  1  Tim.  1:15.  2  Rom.  5:6.  3  GaL  3  :  13. 

4  1  Pet.  1  :19.  8  1  Pet.  2:  24. 

83 


LOOKING  UNTO  JESUS. 

answer  in  that  precious  word :  "  Being  now 
justified  bj  His  blood."^  No  sacrifices,  even 
of  your  body  and  life,  could  do  it ;  but  it  is 
done  by  the  blood  of  the  Cross.  Believe  this. 
O  relenting  reader  I  turn  not  away  from 
this  scene  of  Divine  compassion,  until  you 
have  taken  in  the  full  idea  of  what  God  freely 
offers  you.  There,  in  the  Gospel  of  His  Son, 
the  Almighty  Father  makes  over  for  your 
acceptance  Christ  and  his  salvation. 
"  What  I"  you  say  ;  "  and  are  all  my  works 
of  legal  endeavor  worthless,  in  regard  to  my 
justification  ?"  Yes,  utterly  worthless  ;  and 
the  sooner  you  reject  them  the  better.  All 
your  doings,  outward  or  inward,  are  of  no 
merit.  Such  is  the  humbling  persuasion 
when  we  receive  the  true  Gospel ;  "  knowing 
that  a  man  is  not  justified  by  works  of  law, 
but  by  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ."  And  if  you 
deny  this,  you  nullify  the  Cross;  "for  if  right- 
eousness come  by  the  law,  then  Christ  is  dead 
in  vain."^  Once  more  you  ply  us  with  objec- 
tions, such  as  this :  "After  all,  the  glory  of 
Justice  requires  either  righteousness  or  pun- 
ishment ;  the  righteousness  I  can  not  produce, 

IRora.  5:  9.  2  Gal.  2  :  16,  2L 

84  ■ 


LOOKING   UNTO   JESUS. 

the  pimislimeiit  I  can  not  endure.  Wretch 
that  I  am,  I  can  neither  obey  nor  propitiate  I" 
Listen  to  God,  rather  than  Satan,  and  receive 
the  whole  Gospel  in  this  epitome ;  every  word 
is  fragrant  with  free  grace.  "Being  justified 
freely  by  His  grace  through  the  redemption 
that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  whom  God  hath  set 
forth  to  be  a  propitiation,  through  faith  in 
His  blood,  to  declare  His  righteousness  for 
the  remission  of  sins  that  are  past,  through 
the  forbearance  of  God ;  to  declare,  I  say,  His 
RIGHTEOUSNESS,  that  He  might  be  just,  and 
the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in  Jesus."^ 
How  much  better  is  one  Divine  saying,  than 
all  the  sayings  of  men  I 

Here  is  a  saying,  O  sinner  I  strong  enough 
to  bear  the  weight  of  thy  immortal  soul. 
True,  thou  art  ungodly,  thou  hast  no  right- 
eousness ;  but  here  is  His  righteousness,  by 
which  without  ceasing  to  be  just,  that  is, 
without  ceasing  to  demand  perfect  righteous- 
ness, God  can  justify  thee  in  believing.  Be- 
lieve, beheve,  then  !  "  Believe  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 

But  will  so  simple  a  thing  give  peace  with 

1  Rom.  3  :  24.  25,  26. 
85 


LOOKING   UNTO  JESUS. 

God  ?  Paul  shall  answer :  "  Therefore  being 
justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God, 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."^  "  And  'is 
my  condemnation  then  reversed?"  Let  the 
same  Apostle  answer:  *' There  is  therefore 
now  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in 
Christ  Jesus. "2  Believe  the  testimony  of  God, 
and  you  are  in  Christ.  Divine  Justice  be- 
holds you  in  the  Mediator.  "  K  any  man  sin, 
we  have  an  Advocate  with  the  Father,"  who 
hath  never  sinned,  even  "Jesus  Christ  the 
righteous."^  Think  well  of  this  verse :  you 
have  sinned,  and  deserved  death,  but  Christ 
has  never  sinned,  and  has  been  "  obedient 
unto  death."  This  is  ^''His  righteousness," 
and  may  be  yours^  if  appropriated  by  your 
faith.  One  glorious  Kedeemer  has  taken  the 
place  of  many  souls.  They  have  no  sound 
obedience  to  be  righteous  in,  but  "  by  the  obe- 
dience of  one  shall  many  be  made  righteous."^ 
Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  his 
righteousness  is  yours. 

You  are  still  reluctant,  as  if  Jesus  would 
not  receive  you,  a  sinner.  *'This  man  re- 
ceiveth  sinners."^     "  Seek  from  one  end  of  the 

1  Rom.  5:1.         2  Rom.  8  :  1.         3  iJolm  2  :  1. 
4  Rom.  5  :  19.  5  Luke  15  :  2. 

86 


LOOKING   UNTO  JESUS. 

heavens  to  tlie  other,"  says  Hooker,  *'  turn  all 
the  Bible  over,  and  see  if  the  words  of  Christ 
be  not  true.  Him  that  cometh  unto  me,  1  will  in 
no  wise  cast  outy  "  Ah  !  there  is  the  point," 
say  you ;  "  If  I  were  only  sure  that  I  did 
come  /"  Make  sure  of  it,  then,  by  believing. 
To  "come"  is  to  "believe."  Different  terms 
are  used,  but  all  mean  one  and  the  same  taking 
of  Jesus  Christ  as  your  Saviour,  on  God's  free 
offer,  which  constitutes  your  warrant  to  take 
it.  This  "  receiving"  is  explained  to  be  the 
same  as  "  believing,"  thus:  "As  many  as  re- 
ceived him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become 
the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on 
his  name."^  When  by  believing  you  are 
joined  to  Christ,  you  have  authority  to  be  a 
child  of  God.  Therefore,  lay  every  thing  else 
aside,  in  order  to  come  to  Christ. 

The  anguish  of  soul  experienced  by  Martin 
Luther,  enabled  him  to  understand  the  case 
of  anxious  inquirers.  To  such  a  one  he  says  : 
"  When  thy  conscience  is  thoroughly  afraid 
with  the  remembrance  of  thy  sins  past,  when 
the  devil  assaulteth  thee  with  great  violence, 
going  about  to  overwhelm  thee  with  heaps, 
floods,  and  whole  seas  of  sins,  to  terrify  thee 

1  John  1  :  12. 

87 


LOOKING    UNTO  JESUS. 

and  draw  thee  from  Christ,  then  arm  thyself 
with  such  sentences  as  these  :  '  Christ  the  Son 
of  God  was  given,  not  for  the  holy,  righteous, 
worthy,  and  such  as  were  his  friends ;  but  for 
the  wicked,  for  sinners,  for  the  unworthy,  and 
for  his  enemies.'  Wherefore  if  the  devil  say. 
Thou  art  a  sinner,  and  therefore  must  be 
damned ;  then  answer  thou  and  say :  '  Because 
thou  sayest  I  am  a  sinner,  therefore  will  I  be 
righteous,  and  saved.'  And  if  he  reply,  Nay, 
sinners  must  be  damned,  then  answer  and 
say :  '  jN'o,  for  I  flee  to  Christ,  who  hath  given 
himself  for  my  sins.  And  therefore,  Satan, 
in  that  ttou  sayest  I  am  a  sinner,  thou  givest 
me  armor  and  weapons  against  thyself,  that 
with  thine  own  sword  I  may  cut  thy  throat, 
and  tread  thee  under  my  feet.'  " 


88 


LOOKING  UNTO  JESUS. 


TO   CHRIST. 

When  I  see  thee  hanging,  bleeding, 

Dying,  on  the  cruel  tree. 
Pale  in°voe,  yet  interceding 

For  the  men  that  murdered  thee  ; 
How  can  I  refrain  from  giving 

Life  and  soul  and  all  away, 
On  thv  promise  ever  living. 
Thee  adoring  night  and  day ! 


When  I  see  thee  upward  breaking 

From  the  grave,  on  high  to  stand, 
And  thy  rightful  empire  taking 

At  the  Father's  blest  right  hand  ; 
Can  I  longer  doubt  thy  favor, 

Or  thy  willingness  to  bless  ? 
No,  my  interceding  Saviour, 

Words  can  ne'er  my  hope  express. 


When  I  feel  the  fresh  bedewing 
Of  thy  spirit  on  my  heart, 

All  the  Father's  mercy  viewing, 
In  the  gifts  thy  pangs  impart; 

Faith  accepts  the  heavenly  seahn 
Tenderness  and  joy  combine 


o  ' 


Peace  o'er  all  my  soul  is  stealing, 
I  am  Christ's,  and  Christ  is  mine  ! 

Thus,  when  life's  short  day  is  ending. 

And  this  mortal  yields  its  power, 
May  thy  Spirit  condescending 

Cleanse  and  arm  me  for  the  hour ! 
At  the  river's  brink  arriving,      . 

In  thy  smile  I  lose  my  fear,^ 
Victory  then  crowns  my  striving. 

Death  is  gain,  for  Christ  is  here ! 
89 


GOD  BE  MERCIFUL  TO  ME  A  SINNER! 


Several  comments  may  be  made  on  this 
familiar  prayer. 

I.  It  is  a  signer's  prayer.  K  tlie  Bible 
gave  us  the  prayers  only  of  great  saints,  we 
might  be  at  a  loss ;  it  gives  us  the  prayers  of 
great  sinners.  This  man  is  a  Publican ;  and 
a  Publican  is  prima-facie  a  sinner.  Our  Lord 
evidently  means  it  to  be  so  understood. 

The  proper  place  for  the  sinner  is  the  place 
of  prayer.  The  very  best  thing  a  Publican 
can  do  is  to  go  direct  to  God  in  prayer. 
Thus  the  sinful  Zaccheus  placed  himself  in 
the  way.  He  was  perhaps  a  laughing-stock 
in  that  tree  by  the  wayside ;  but  he  knew 
every  thing  depended  on  his  seeing  Christ. 
It  is  a  blessed  thing  for  a  sinner  to  have  words 
put  into  his  mouth  mth  which  to  go  to  God. 
If  the  worst  malefactor  living  could  come  to 
90 


GOD  BE   MERCIFUL 

the  point  of  turning,  here  are  the  words  with 
which  to  turn. 

There  was  a  horrible  wretch  suspended  on 
the  cross  at  Golgotha ;  in  his  agonies  he  re- 
solved to  pray.  He  saw  dying  beside  him 
the  Saviour  of  the  world.  He  poured  out  his 
sinful,  breaking,  expiring  soul  in  one  great 
but  short  petition:  "Lord,  remember  me  I" 
and  in  a  few  moments  he  was  in  the  arms  of 
that  Lord  in  Paradise.  What  a  blessed  cheer- 
ing lesson,  that  sinners  may  pray  I 

IL  It  is  a  SIMPLE  PRAYER.  It  is  very 
short ;  far  shorter  than  the  Pharisee's,  though 
his  was  short  for  a  Pharisee.  Perhaps  we 
have  not  all  he  said,  in  ampHfication  of  his 
righteousness.  This  has  but  a  single  petition. 
There  is  no  multiplication  of  request.  When 
a  man  goes  to  God  in  earnest,  he  will  usually 
dwell  on  the  one  ^Am^  which  is  his  burden;  this 
will  swell  within  him — this  will  overflow — this 
will  break  into  language.  There  have  been 
times,  O  reader !  when  all  our  wishes  seemed 
condensed  into  one,  and  we  could  ask  of  God 
only  that  one  thing.  Such  prayers  go  from 
the  heart.  Infinitely  better  are  they  than 
whole  inventories  of  vain,  heartless  requests. 
The  message  of  the  heart  —  that  is  what  God 
91 


TO  ME  A   sinner! 

looks  at ;  what  the  soul  pants,  wrestles,  and 
longs  for,  can  not  live  without,  y^,  almost 
dies  for ;  this  is  the  prayer  God  hears.  As  a 
man  prays,  when  all  is  at  stake — when  a  first- 
born is  at  the  brink  of  the  pit — when  he  is  in 
extreme  peril — as  you  will  pray  when  God 
shall  stand  over  you,  saying,  "  Thoushalt  die 
and  not  live  !"  This  is  praying  in  earnest, 
and  it  is  always  simple.  All  great  things  are 
simple.  Mighty  heavings  of  desire  break 
away  over  conventional  forms.  Like  Paul 
he  could  say,  "  One  thing  I  do ;"  one  thing 
I  want.  He  summoned  all  his  powers  to  give 
impetus  to  one  vast  petition ;  it  was  for  a 
simple  good,  and  that  good  was,  Mercy. 

"  Mercy,  good  Lord,  mercy  I  crave, 
This  is  the  total  sum : 
For  mercy,  Lord,  is  all  my  suit, 
Lord,  let  thy  mercy  come  !" 

(SlERNnOLD.) 

m.  It  is  a  LOWLY  PRAYER.  Every  thing 
m  his  posture  and  carriage  evinces  this ;  but 
the  words  still  more.  He  gives  himself  one 
title  only,  and  that  the  lowest,  "  a  sinner  J  ^ 
Has  he  heard  what  the  Pharisee  has  just  been 
saying  of  him  to  God  ?  Ah  !  he  cares  not. 
92 


GOD  BE  MERCIFUL 

'  God,  he  knows  full  well,  ngeds  not  tlie  infor- 
mation ;  naj,  he  needs  it  not  himself.    Others 
can  not  think  worse  of  him  than  he  thinks  of 
himself     The  sense  of  God's  all  seeing  eye,  as 
■upon  Tis,  and  of  his  spotless  holiness  as  against 
us,  makes  the  judgment  by  men  of  very  little 
value.     It  is  then  a  small  thing  to  be  judged 
by  man's  judgment.     This  is  the  true  source 
of  humility.     Looking  at  oureelves  as  God 
looks   at  us   tends  to  cut  down   our    high 
thoughts.     "Pride  was  not  made  for  man." 
It  is  abomination  to  God.    Above  all,  spiritual 
pride  is  an  inward  sin  of  a  deep  dye ;  because 
it  is  a  vaunting  of  ourselves  in  that  which,  if 
indeed  possessed,  we  have  received  as  beggars 
from  the  hand  of  God.     And  pride  on  our 
knees,  self-complacency  in  sackcloth,  conceit 
of  our  own  goodness  in  prayer  —  what  are 
these  but  so  many  insults  to  Jehovah !     "  The 
rich  hath  He  sent  empty  away."     These  boast- 
ers, and  carnal  self-pleasers  are  they,  whom 
infinite  purity  and  holiness  loves  to  crush. 
For  see  the  moral  of  the  parable,  (v.  14,)  "  For 
every  one   that    exalteth  himself   shall  be 
abased."     How  often  is  it  said!    how  con- 
stantly do  we  need  the  repetition  !     Perhaps 
the  very  man  who  is  now  saying,  '-/need  it 
93 


TO   ME   A  sinner! 

not,"  needs  it  most.  (Matt.  23 :  12,)  "  Whoso- 
ever  shall  exalt  liimself  shall  be  abased." 
(James  4  :  6,)  *'  God  resisteth  the  proud,  but 
giveth  grace  unto  the  humble."  We  must 
come  in  prayer,  as  the  culprit  comes,  as  the 
leper  comes,  "or  even  as  this  publican." 

TV.  It  is  a  PENITENT  PRAYER.  This  above 
all  things  it  is.  The  voice  of  true  compunc- 
tion breaks  through,  as  in  a  sob  of  grief.  A 
sinner !  a  sinner  I  just  as  the  leper,  under  the 
law,  was  to  stand  afar,  and  cry:  "Unclean  ! 
unclean."  O  ye  hardened  sinners ;  0  ye 
unhumbled  Pharisees  ;  how  little  do  ye  know 
of  the  grief  of  a  soul  pouring  itself  out  to  God 
under  a  sense  of  the  turpitude,  magnitude 
and  multitude  of  sins !  To  you,  how  much 
of  the  prayers  of  the  church,  and  of  the  pray- 
ers of  David,  must  be  a  dead  letter !  How 
little  conception  have  ye  of  the  solitary  moan- 
ings  of  one  who  loathes  himself  on  account 
of  sin,  and  smites  his  breast  on  account  of  his 
impotency,  and  acknowledges  his  utter  vile- 
ness  and  un worthiness !  God's  law  laid 
closely  to  the  conscience,  and  God's  holiness 
beaming  on  the  sinful  heart,  work  such  a  con- 
trast and  conflict  that  the  best  expression 
is  often  that  of  Job :  "I  abhor  myself  and 
94 


■  GOD  BE  MEECIFUL 

repent  in  dust  and  ashes."  And  thotigli  you 
now  think  this  whole  matter  an  exaggeration, 
and  flatter  yourself  in  your  own  eyes  until 
your  iniquity  be  found  hateful,  it  is  because 
your  eyes  have  never  been  opened,  and  "  ye 
must  be  born  again  !"  In  the  hour  of  true 
repentance,  there  is  such  a  justifying  of  God 
and  such  a  condemning  of  self  as  sometimes 
dissolves  the  soul  into  a  penitential  sorrow 
which  bedews  and  kisses  the  feet  of  Christ ; 
which  will  not  forgive  itself  even  when  He 
forgives ;  which  exclaims,  ''  To  me  who  am 
less  than  the  least  of  all  saints  " — to  me  *'  the 
chief  of  sinners."  Nay,  what  can  be  more 
full  of  pathos,  than  this  gush  of  heart  from 
the  convinced  Publican  :  "  God  be  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner !" 

Y.  It  is  a  PRAYER  OF  FAITH.  This  wa 
might  argue  from  the  effect.  Without  faith  il 
is  impossible  to  please  him :  but  this  did 
please  him.  He  that  cometh  to  God  must 
believe  that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  a  re  warder 
of  them  who  diligently  seek  him.  The  Pub  - 
lican  so  believed,  and  so  came,  and  so  sought, 
and  was  so  rewarded.  He  that  is  in  need  is 
to  ask  of  God;  "but  let  him  ask  in  faith," 
says  the  Apostle  James.  Many  a  man  has 
95 


TO   ME   A  sinner! 

liad  a  ddfep,  and  despairing,  and  almost  damn- 
ing sense  of  his  guilt,  so  as  to  be  driven  to 
tlie  cries  of  Cain  and  tlie  suicide  of  Judas,  and 
yet  lias  never  uttered  this  prayer;  for  this 
reason,  that  he  has  had  no  belief  in  God  as  a 
justifier  of  the  ungodly,  and  no  sight  of  Christ 
as  a  sufficient  and  willing  Saviour.  It  is  a 
lesson  we  are  slow  to  learn,  yet  most  true  and 
important,  that  true  sorrow  for  sin  never  begins 
till  there  is  some  sight  of  grace.  The  Law, 
in  its  manifold  agency  of  alarm,  conviction, 
remorse,  fear,  horror,  crushing  of  soul,  can 
only  harden.  Increase  this,  until  it  reach 
utter  despondency,  like  that  of  the  lost,  who 
have  legal  awakening  in  its  extreme,  still  it 
•  has  no  tincture  of  gracious  affection.  But  let 
the  Gross  appear;  let  God  be  revealed  as 
jready  to  pardon ;  let  the  gift  of  his  Son  at- 
pract  the  love  of  the  heart ;  let  the  blood  of 
Calvary  trickle  warmly  over  the  obdurate 
bosom ;  and  these  morose,  proud,  and  relent- 
less habits  give  place  to  childlike  sorrow  and 
melting  contrition.  Then  the  soul  can  pray. 
"  Behold  he  prayeth  !"  Then  the  sinner  can 
pray  to  God^  as  no  longer  vengeful  and  unfor- 
giving ;  and  can  call  on  him  by  his  chosen 
name,  "  The  Lord,  the  Lord  God  merciful  and 
06 


GOD   BE   MERCIFUL 

gracious."  Then  he  can  utter  the  petition 
which  Christ  has  honored,  "  God  be  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner  I" 

YI.  It  is  an  accepted  prayer.  Often, 
alas  !  we  praj,  and  never  afterward  concern 
oSrselves,  as  to  whether  we  have  b^en  heard 
or  not.  The  Pharisee  is  so  sure  of  his  own 
merits  that  he  scarcely  needs  to  ask.  The 
Publican,  whether  he  knows  it  or  not,  is  heard 
and  answered :  "I  tell  you,  this  man  went 
down  to  his  house  justified  rather  than  the 
otber."  Eeader,  it  is  a  blessed  thing  to  go 
from  the  sanctuary  to  the  home^  with  a  justi- 
fied soul :  many  have  so  gone ;  and  you 
might  so  go.  The  whole  need  not  a  physician  ; 
the  Pharisee  sought  no  pardon  ;  but  they 
that  are  sick — ^the  Publican — the  sinner — such 
as  you  and  I,  make  this  the  burden  of  prayer, 
and  earnestly  beseech  God  to  show  us  this 
favor.  Could  you,  as  you  now  read,  under  a 
pressing,  poignant  sense  of  your  own  unwor. 
thiness,  and  transgression,  and  defilement, 
abandon  all  your  good  works,  good  intentions, 
and  good  feelings  ;  and  as  a  sinner,  empty  of 
all  good,  of  all  power,  and  of  all  preparation, 
could  you,  just  as  you  are,  look  away  from 
that  dark  chaos  within  you,  on  which  you 


TO  ME  A  sinner! 

have  been  gazing,  to  the  Lamb  of  God  who 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world  ;  could  you 
be  all  on  a  sudden  withdrawn  from  looking 
self- ward  to  looking  (7Am^ward,  so  as  to  be 
absorbed  in  the  contemplation  of  an  excellen- 
cy, a  love,  a  mercy,  a  grace,  a  forgivendfes, 
which  ask  no  condition,  and  brook  no  bounds ; 
and  could  you,  in  all  your  present  sense  of 
hardness,  impenitency,  and  unpreparedness, 
flee  forever  from  all  your  own  deservings,  and 
your  own  strivings,  and  cast  yourself  head- 
long into  the  ocean  of  divine  love  in  Jesus 
Christ,  crying,  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sin- 
ner !  you  would  go  down  to  your  house  jus- 
tified. And  how  great  a  blessing  would  this 
be  !  for  I  have  further  to  say  of  this  petition. 

Yir.   It   is    the   PRAYER   OF  A  SAVED   SOUL. 

Has  it  not  been  heard  ?  Has  it  not  been  an- 
swered? Has  not  Christ  spoken  the  whole 
parable  to  teach  this  very  thing  ?  Has  not 
the  Publican  gone  down  to  his  house  justified? 
Has  not  God  been  merciful  to  him  a  sinner  ? 
Then  of  a  truth  he  is  forever  saved  I  His 
sins,  which  were  many,  are  forgiven,  and  he 
loves  much  and  goes  on  his  way  rejoicing. 
Can  any  thing  be  more  just  cause  of  joy  to  a 
human  soul  than  a  consciousness  of  pardon 

9S 


GOD  BE  MERCIFUL  TO  ME  A  SINNER ! 

and  divine  acceptance  ?  It  is  salvation  be- 
gun. The  assurance  may  not  ensue  upon  tlie 
prayer.  One  may  be  in  darkness  and  yet  be 
a  true  believer.  Those  are  not  the  safest 
Christians  who  boast  of  the  most  unchanging 
frames.  Their  comparisons  of  themselves  with 
weaker  brethren  savor  of  the  Pharisee's  grat- 
ulations.  But  the  soul  is  safe,  which  has 
even  once  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold  on  the 
hope  set  before  it  in  the  Gospel.  Being  joined  to 
Christ  it  can  not  be  disj  oined.  It  is  as  pure  from 
guilt  as  the  blood  of  Christ  can  wash  it.  It  is 
as  righteous  in  the  sight  of  law,  as  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ  can  make  it.  He  that  spared 
not  his  own  Son,  can  not  withhold  lesser  gifts. 
"Whom  he  called,  them  he  also  justified; 
and  whom  he  justified,  them  he  also  glorified." 
To  be  justified,  then,  is  to  be  saved.  This 
must  be  admitted,  unless  you  can  produce 
some  power  able  to  effect  a  separation  between 
the  Head  and  the  members :  and  what  power 
shall  this  be  ?  Tribulation,  distress,  persecu- 
tion, famine,  peril,  sword,  death,  life,  angels, 
principalities,  powers,  things  present,  things 
to  come,  height,  depth,  any  other  creature  ? 
nay,  in  all  these  things  we  are  more  than  con- 
querors, through  him  that  loved  us  ! 
90 


PAUL   GERHARDT'S   HYMN. 

0  sacred  Head  1  now  wounded, 

With  grief  and  shame  weighed  down ; 
Now  scornfully  surrounded 

With  thorns,  thy  only  crown  ; 
0  sacred  Head  I  what  glory. 

What  bliss  till  now  was  thine  I 
Yet,  though  despised  and  gory, 

I  joy  to  call  thee  mine. 

0  noblest  brow,  and  dearest  I 

In  other  days  the  world 
All  feared  when  thou  appearedst ; 

What  shame  on  Thee  is  hurled  1 
How  art  thou  pale  with  anguish. 

With  sore  abuse  and  scorn ; 
How  does  that  bosom  languish 

Which  once  was  bright  as  morn. 

The  blushes  late  residing 

Upon  that  holy  cheek, 
The  roses  once  abiding 

Upon  those  lips  so  meek ; 
Alas  I  they  have  departed  ; 

Wan  Death  has  rifled  all ! 
For,  weak  and  broken-hearted, 

I  see  thy  body  fall. 

What  thou,  my  Lord,  hast  suffer,  d 

Was  all  for  smners'  gain ; 
Mine,  mine  was  the  transgression, 

But  thine  the  deadly  pain. 
Lo  I  here  I  fall,  my  Saviour  I 

'Tis  I  deserve  thy  place. 
Look  on  me  with  t'ly  favor, 

Vouchsafe  ti  mc  thy  grace. 
100 


Receive  me,  my  Redeemer, 

My  Shepherd,  make  me  thine ; 
Of  every  good  the  fountain. 

Thou  art  the  spring  of  mine. 
Thy  lips  with  love  distilling 

And  milk  of  truth  sincere. 
With  heaven's  bliss  are  filling 

The  soul  that  trembles  here. 

Beside  thee.  Lord,  I've  taken 

My  place — forbid  me  not  1 
Hence  will  I  ne'er  be  shaken, 

Though  thou  to  death  be  brought. 
If  pain's  last  paleness  hold  thee, 

In  agony  opprest — 
Then,  then  will  I  enfold  thee 

"Within  this  arm  and  breast. 

The  joy  can  ne'er  be  spoken, 

Above  aU  joys  beside, 
When  in  thy  body  broken 

I  thus  with  safety  hide. 
My  Lord  of  life,  desiring 

Thy  glory  now  to  see. 
Beside  the  cross  expiring 

I'd  breathe  my  soul  to  thee. 

What  language  shall  I  borrow 

To  thank  thee,  dearest  Friend, 
For  this,  thy  dying  sorrow, 

Thy  pity  without  end  I 
0  make  me  thine  forever  1 

And  should  I  fainting  be, 
Lord,  let  me  never,  never 

Outlive  my  love  to  Thee, 
101 


PAUL  GERHARDT'S  HYMN. 

Be  near  when  I  am  dying, 

0  show  thy  cross  to  me  I 
And  for  my  succor  flying, 

Come,  Lord,  to  set  me  free. 
These  eyes  new  faith  receiving, 

From  Jesus  shall  not  move, 
For  he  who  dies  believing, 

Dies  safely  through  thy  love. 

Note. — The  author  of  this  translation,  from  Paul  Ge'r- 
hardt,  desires  to  say  that  it  has  been  frequently  republished 
with  changes  and  mutilations,  which  do  great  injustice  to 
the  German  original. — A. 


102 


OH!  FOR  MORE  FEELING! 


What  language  is  more  common  among 
awakened  sinners  tlian  tliis  :  "I  can  not  feel 
that  I  am  a  sinner.  And  yet  I  know  that  I 
have  broken  God's  holy  law.  I  acknowledge 
that  I  am  justly  condemned.  I  am  deeply 
distressed  at  times  with  the  thought  that  I 
must  surely  perish.  But  my  great  burden  is 
that  I  can  not  feel  this.  I  have  no  deep  sense 
of  my  own  sinfulness.  My  constant  and  ago- 
nizing prayer  has  been  for  months,  '  0 
Lord !  break  this  hard  unfeeling  heart !'  " 

There  are  unhappy  souls,  we  must  admit, 
whom  God  has  deserted,  who  do  not  and  can 
not  feel  their  lost  condition ;  and  who  are  desig- 
nated by  the  Apostle  as  "  past  feeling."  Do 
you,  afflicted  reader,  class  yourself  among 
these  ?  You  know  that  you  can  not.  You 
are  in  distress;  and  what  distresses  you? 
That  you  are  calm  and  unmoved  in  the  midst 
103 


4  on!    FOR   MORE   FEELING  I 

of  your  sins  ?  That  the  awfal  position  of 
your  soul  is  unnoticed  by  you  ?  That  you  have 
no  desire  to  return  to  God  ? 

"  Ko,  this  is  not  my  condition,"  you  instant- 
ly answer.  "I  do  feel  ;  yet  it  is  not  because 
I  am  a  sinner,  but  because  my  heart  is  so 
hard  and  unfeeling." 

Now  suppose  you  transfer  this  experience 
from  your  soul  to  your  body,  and  see  how  un- 
founded are  your  troubles.  You  are  afflicted 
with  a  deep-seated  malady ;  it  is  invisible,  it 
gives  no  pain  ;  and  yet  its  effects  are  appar- 
ent, in  the  wasting  of  your  body.  Suppose 
you  were  to  argue  thus  :  "I  know  that  there 
is  a  deadly  disease  preying  upon  my  vitals, 
and  I  desire  to  be  cured  ;  but  I  feel  no  pain — 
I  do  not  see  the  loathsome  seat  of  evil.  If  I 
could  only  feel  and  see  this,  I  would  call  for 
the  physician." 

You  do  know  that  the  disease  is  there,  and 
you  do  know  that  you  are  a  sinner.  The 
Spirit  and  the  law  of  God  have  been  work- 
ing this  conviction,  and  your  deceitful  heart 
is  only  shrinking  into  this  refuge  of  lies 
in  order  to  delay  its  flight  to  the  city  of 
refuge.^ 

1  Heb.  6  :  13, 
104 


OH  !   FOR  MORE  FEELING  I  6 

The  word  of  God  gives  us  no  intimation  as 
to  the  precise  amount  of  feeling  which  we  are 
to  have  before  we  approach  Christ  for  heal- 
ing. Bartimeus  knew  that  he  was  blind. 
This  was  enough  to  lead  him  to  the  waj-side, 
where  Jesus  was  to  pass.  There  is  no  evi- 
dence that  he  thought  of  searching  into  the 
nature  or  origin  of  his  blindness.  He  knew 
that  he  was  bhnd,  and  that  was  enough  to 
force  from  him  the  crj,  "Jesus,  thou  Son  of 
David,  have  mercy  on  me  I"  The  Israelites, 
who  were  bitten  bj  the  fiery  serpents,  were 
not  required  to  trace  the  effects  of  the  subtle 
poison  as  it  entered  the  circulation,  or  to  mark 
the  symptoms  of  its  deadly  progress,  before 
they  looked  at  the  brazen  serpent  for  healing. 
The  moment  they  felt  the  venomous  fang 
they  might  look  and  be  healed.  Since  it  was 
so  with  th^  types  of  the  sinner  and  the  cross, 
is  it  not  equally  so  with  the  antitypes  ? 

Where  has  God  said.  Produce  so  much  con- 
viction, feel  so  and  so,  in  regard  to  your  sin, 
humble  your  soul  to  that  particular  point  of 
anguish  and  grief,  and  then  you  may  have 
Christ  and  his  free  grace  ?  Nay  ;  on  such  a 
plan  no  inquiring  soul  could  ever  know  his 
warrant  to  believe,  because  he  could  never  as- 
105 


6  OH  I   FOR  MORE  FEELING  I 

certain   whether  his  conviction,    grief,   and 
anguish  were  enough. 

"  Let  not  conscience  make  you  linger ; 
Nor  of  fitness  fondly  dream : 
AU  the  fitness  he  requireth 
Is  to  feel  your  need  of  him." 

It  was  truly  said  by  President  Edwards, 
"  that  those  who  are  partly  convinced  of  sin 
are  not  apt  to  think  themselves  greatly  con- 
vinced ;  and  the  reason  is  this  :  men  judge  of 
the  degree  of  their  own  convictions  of  sin  by 
two  things  jointly  considered,  namely,  the 
degree  of  sense  which  they  have  of  guilt  and 
pollution,  and  the  degree  of  cause  they  have 
for  such  a  sense,  in  the  degree  of  their  real 
sinfalness.  It  is  really  no  argument  of  any 
great  conviction  of  sin  for  some  men  to  think 
themselves  to  be  very  sinful,  be/ond  most 
others  in  the  world ;  because  they  are  so 
indeed  very  plainly  and  notoriously.  And 
therefore  a  far  less  conviction  of  sin  may  in- 
chne  such  a  one  to  think  so  than  another ;  he 
must  be  very  blind  indeed,  not  to  be  sensible 
of  it.  But  he  that  is  truly  under  great  con- 
viction of  sin,  naturally  thinks  this  to  be  his 
case.  It  appears  to  him  that  the  cause  he  has 
lOG 


OH  I    FOR  MORE  FEELING  I  7 

to  be  sensible  of  guilt  and  pollution  is  greater 
than  others  have,  and  therefore  he  ascribes 
his  sensibleness  of  this  to  the  greatness  of  his 
sin,  and  not  to  the  greatness  of  his  sensi- 
bility." 

This  difficulty  as  to  a  want  of  feeling  arises 
wholly  from  a  wrong  view  of  what  salvation 
is.  We  fail  to  see  in  it  a  perfect  gratuity  to 
sinners.  To  sinners  I  say,  for  the  whole  effort 
of  the  soul,  in  all  its  struggles,  is  to  make  some 
preparation,  to  be  in  some  pecuhar  state  of 
mind,  before  it  can  receive  the  free  gift.  But 
Christ  came  to  call  not  the  righteous,  but  sin- 
ners; the  invitations  of  the  Gospel  are  to 
SINNERS.  No  one,  indeed,  will  come  to  the 
physician  who  has  not  a  sense  of  want ;  but 
there  is  no  merit,  nor  any  proper  preparation, 
in  such  sense  of  want.  It  is  only  hungering 
and  thirsting.  If  you  hunger  after  salvation, 
come ;  if  you  are  athirst,  come ;  if  you  are 
heavy  laden  because  you  can  not  feel  your 
sins,  come. 

Let  us,  however,  suppose  this  difficulty  to 
be  removed.  You  are  satisfied  that  certain 
convictions  of  sin  are  not  prescribed  as  neces- 
sary to  your  acceptance  of  Christ.  Satan 
and  your  own  deceitful  heart  have  not  yet 
107 


8  OH  !   FOR   MORE   FEELING  I 

exhausted  their  subterfuges.  You  now  are 
troubled  because  jou  feel  no  love,  nor  joy  ; 
and  the  soul  often  complains  that  it  has  even 
no  desire  for  salvation.  It  seems  to  be  your 
determined  purpose  to  obstruct  the  way  by 
every  possible  impediment.  Can  you  con- 
ceive of  a  drowning  man  refusing  to  seize  the 
rope  which  is  thrown  to  him,  because  he 
doubts  whether  he  feels  gratitude  enough  to 
the  friend  who  has  thrown  it ;  or  because  he 
is  not  certain  whether  he  rightly  -wishes  to 
be  saved?  Surely  Satan  has  blinded  the 
minds  of  them  that  believe  not,  when  he  can 
thus  prevent  them  from  simply  accepting 
eternal  life. 

There  are  two  grand  errors  upon  which  all 
these  difficulties  of  the  inquiring  soul  rest. 
The  first  is  that  there  is  some  work,  prepara- 
tion, or  experience  demanded  previous  to  a 
surrender  of  the  heart  to  Christ.  The  second 
is,  that  salvation  is  an  emotion,  or  a  feeling, 
or  a  series  of  these,  instead  of  a  new  life  besrun 
in  faith.  All  the  thoughts,  emotions,  or  acts 
of  the  soul,  before  it  rests  upon  Christ,  are 
utterly  worthless  in  the  sight  of  God.  ^'  Lord, 
I  BELIEVE,"  is  the  first  utterance  of  the 
new-born  soul.     Preceding  exercises,  if  they 


•    oh!  fok  more  feeling  I  9 

have  any  value,  only  lead  the  soul  to  this 
confession,  and  then  the  feelings  are  the 
fruits  of  that  new  life  derived  at  the  cross. 

You  may  have  been  weeks  or  months  wait- 
ing for  these  feelings  to  come — wrestling  with 
God  in  prayer  that  he  would  send  them — and 
deeply  disturbed  because  the  prayer  was  not 
answered.     Did  you  ever  go  to  the  Word  of 
God,  and  put  your  finger  upon  the  command 
that  you  must  have  this  feeling  or  that  feeling, 
before  you  could  believe  on  Christ  ?     Did  our 
Lord  tell  Mcodemus  to  go  home  and  wait 
until  his  heart  was  broken,  and  then  come 
again  and  receive  life?     No,  He  told  him  to 
helieve.     Did  the  apostles  tell  the  thousands 
who  were  awakened  by  Peter's  sermon  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost,  to  wait  for  farther  light 
or  further  conviction?      No,   the  command 
was,  repent.     It  was  an  act  to  be  performed 
then ;  and  among  the  three  thousand  who  did 
receive  Christ  there,  must  there  not  have  been 
an  infinite  variety  of  experience  ?     Some  felt 
as  you  feel — perhaps  some  delayed  as  you  de- 
lay— ^but  the  three  thousand,  without  waiting, 
received  the  proffered  salvation.     Did  Paul 
advise  the  trembling  jailer  to  wait  until  he 
was  better  prepared  to  come  ?     No,  but  out 
100 


10  oh!  for  more  feeling  I    • 

of  the  very  jaws  of  suicide  to  believe  in  that 
Saviour  who  received  him.  A  young  man 
came  to  the  writer  of  these  pages  a  few  weeks 
ago  under  great  concern,  asking  what  he  must 
do  to  be  saved.  He  was  directed  to  the  Cross 
and  its  Divine  Victim,  and  to  a  simple  receiv- 
ing of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  only  Way 
of  life.  A  few  days  after  he  came  rejoicing 
in  hope,  saying :  "  I  did  not  know  how  easy  a 
thing  conversion  was.  I  thought  there  would 
be  some  great  and  wonderful  change  in  my 
feelings  before  I  came  to  the  Cross."  This  is 
but  the  old  story  of  Naaman,  or  rather  of  the 
human  heart,  refusing  to  receive  a  free  salva- 
tion ;  looking  at  its  own  corruptions  and  its 
amendment,  instead  of  the  great  object  of  faith 
which  is  so  prominently  set  before  us  in  the 
Word  of  God. 

Let  the  reader  look  at  the  sum  of  these  errors 
and  disheartening  delays.  You  are  unwilling 
to  be  saved  by  grace.  You  do  not  confess  it, 
but  your  posture  proves  it ;  you  are  waiting, 
waiting,  waiting,  months  or  even  years,  to  be 
borne  away  into  some  griefs  or  raptures,  which, 
it  may  be,  God  has  no  purpose  of  bestowing 
upon  you.  The  effect  is  preposterously  put 
before  the  cause,  feeling  before  faith.  If  you 
110 


oh!  for  more  feeling  I  ll 

could  only  feel  hope,  grief,  terror,  love,  you 
would  believe.  God's  declaration  of  mercy 
would  then  be  true -to  you.  Ah  I  sinner,  it  is 
true  to  you  now,  whether  you  feel  or  not. 
Feeling  becomes  self-righteousness,  if  it  takes 
the  place  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ. 
"Would  you  feel  now  ?  Only  believe.  It  is 
at  the  Cross  (that  is,  believing)  that  the  burden 
falls  from  the  back,  and  tears  of  genuine  feel 
ing  from  the  eyes. 


The  Lord  will  happiness  divine 

On  contrite  hearts  bestow ;  ^ 

Then  tell  me,  gracious  God,  is  mine 
A  contrite  heart  or  no  ? 

I  hear,  but  seem  to  hear  in  vain, 

Insensible  as  steel ; 
If  aught  is  felt,  'tis  only  pain 

To  find  I  can  not  feel 

I  sometimes  think  myself  inclined 

To  love  thee  if  I  could ; 
But  often  feel  another  mind 

Averse  to  all  that's  good. 

ily  best  desires  are  faint  and  few — 
I  fain  would  strive  for  more  ; 

But  when  I  cry,  "  My  strength  renew," 
Seem  weaker  than  before. 
Ill 


12  OH  !    FOR  MORE  FEELING ! 

Thy  saints  are  comforted,  I  know, 
And  love  thy  house  of  prayer ; 

I  therefore  go  where  others  go, 
But  find  no  comfort  there. 

Oh  1  make  this  heart  rejoice  or  ache, 
Decide  this  doubt  for  me  ; 

And  if  it  be  not  broken,  break, 
And  heal  it  if  it  be. 


ir 


HAVE  1  COME  TO    CHRISTY 


There  is  notliing  wliicli  should  awaken  sur- 
prise in  the  statement,  that  behevers  bear  cer- 
tain marks  by  which  they  may  discover  them- 
selves to  be  snch  ;  for  religion  works  a  real  and 
important  change,  which  admits  of  being  ascer- 
tained.    Many  are  the  treatises  which  have 
been  written  on  this  sabj^t,  and  it  would  be 
easy  to  add  to  their  nndfber,  because  every 
fruit  of  grace  might  in  a  sense  be  called  an 
evidence,  and  the  recital  of  all  these  would  fill 
a  volume.     It  is  not  intended  now  to  enter 
upon  so  large  a  field,  nor  to  treat  the  whole 
round  of  Christian   evidences.      It  will  be 
more  expedient  to  contemplate   the  subject 
only  as  it  stands  related  to  our  proper  topic  ; 
in  other  words,  to  examine  the  evidences  of  a 
gracious  state  under  this  single  aspect,  as  evi- 
dences of  having  come  to  Christ. 

Before  proceeding  to  indicate  any  marks  of 
faith,  it  will  be  desirable  to  state  a  few  princi- 
ples,'the  neglect  of  which  has  given  rise  lo 
113  " 


2  HAVE   I  COME   TO   CHRIST? 

much  confusion;  these  principles  have  a 
direct  bearing  on  all  that  is  to  be  said  in  the 
sequel. 

The  evidences  which  are  to  to  be  proposed 
are  not  for  the  world,  but  for  the  inquirer. 
On  the  world  there  can  be  no  marks  but  those 
of  external  conduct,  and  these  are  often  falla- 
cious. He  who  would  know  his  own  state 
must  go  deeper  than  this ;  for  as  the  vener- 
able Stoddard  observes :  "  All  visible  signs 
are  common  to  converted  and  unconverted 
men ;  and  a  relation  of  experiences  among 
the  rest."  Not  onbr  the  world,  but  the  most 
pious  and  experienced  church  officers  may  be 
deceived,  and  take  chaff  for  wheat ;  the  sin- 
cere believer  will  therefore  aim  to  push  his 
search  more  to  the  root  of  things. 

These  marks  must  he  of  divine  authcnnty. 
Hundreds  of  rules  have  been  laid  down,  and 
pressed  with  great  earnestness,  which  have 
nevertheless  no  foundation  in  the  Word  of 
God,  but  are  barely  the  inventions  of  men, 
sometimes  of  imprudent  and  erroneous  men. 
In  times  of  unusual  awakening,  and  times 
when  there  is  earnestness  for  particular  doc- 
trines, it  is  common  for  many  new  tests  to  be 
proposed.  Thus,  for  example,  the  day  has 
lU 


HAVE   I   COME  TO   CHRIST?  3 

been  when  a  man  would  not  be  reckoned  a 
true  Christian,  unless  lie  abandoned  all  his 
goods ;  or  unless  he  was  fully  prepared  for 
martyrdom ;  or  unless  he  was  dehvered  from 
all  self-love ;  or  unless  he  was  willing  to  be 
damned  ;  or  unless  he  professed  full  assurance 
of  hope ;  or  unless  he  had  attained  sinless 
perfection.  By  setting  np  such  tests,  weak 
and  trembling  believers  have  often  been  cast 
into  needless  despondency,  while  presump- 
tuous zealots  have  triumphed.  ISTo  discrimi- 
nation has  the  slightest  value  here  which  is 
not  founded  on  clear  declarations  of  the  Scrip- 
ture ;  and  these  are  so  abundant  as  to  cut  off 
every  pretext  of  arrogant  inventors.  "  To 
the  Law  and  to  the  Testimony." 

The  marks  of  Christian  character  go  together^ 
as  parts  of  an  undivided  whole.  There  is  such 
a  unity  and  symmetry  in  the  religious  life,  as 
proceeding  from  "  one  and  the  selfsame  Spi- 
rit," that  we  can  no  more  have  a  half-Christian- 
ity than  a  half-life.  For,  first,  since  there  is  a 
total  depravity  in  the  unrenewed,  and  since 
there  is  no  grace,  even  apparently  the  small- 
est, which  is  not  the  fruit  of  regeneration,  it 
follows,  that  any  one  undeniable  evidence  ivould 
ascertain  a  soul  to  he  renewed.     If,  for  example, 

115 


4  HAVE   I   COME   TO   CHRIST? 

any  one  could  be  absolutely  certain  of  his 
having  genuine  faith,  or  holy  love,  or  gospel 
humility,  he  would  need  to  look  no  further. 
Just  as  in  a  case  of  suspended  animation, 
when  anxious  friends  surround  the  body,  not 
knowing  but  that  it  is  a  corpse;  there  are 
many  signs  of  animal  life,  but  one  breath, 
or  one  opening  of  the  eyes,  or  one  voluntary 
motion  settles  the  question.  But  lest  this 
should  render  any  presumptuous,  let  it  be 
added,  that  for  the  same  reason,  secondly,  the 
total  absence  of  any  one  essential  mark  ivoidd 
ascertain  the  soul  to  he  unrenewed.  All  graces  do 
not  indeed  blossom  and  bear  at  once ;  there  are 
seasons  for  particular  exercises,  and  stages  in 
Christian  growth  ;  so  that  this  rule  is  not  to  be 
hastily  applied.  But  of  its  general  truth  no 
one  can  be  in  doubt,  who  will  reflect,  that  the 
absolute  and  undeniable  want  of  humility,  or 
of  brotherly  kindness,  if  it  could  be  ascertain- 
ed, would  as-'certainly  stamp  a  man  an  enemy 
of  God,  as  perjury  or  murder.  In  a  word, 
the  Christian  life,  though  not  always  acting 
in  the  same  manner,  or  the  same  degree,  is 
always  fully  present  in  renewed  minds. 

It  is  the  recdity^  and  not  the  degree^  of  these 
evidences^  ivhich  is  the  present  object  of  our  search, 
IIG 


HAVE   I   COME  TO   CHRIST?  5 

In  another  connection  we  ouglit  to  be  deeply 
concerned  about  the  small  measure  of  our 
piety,  and  ought  daily  and  with  tears  to  strive 
for  its  highest  degrees ;  but  when  the  inquiry  is 
whether  we  have  any  piety  whatever,  it  is  not  a 
question  of  degree  ;  and  many  a  humble  soul 
needs  the  suggestion.  There  maybe  life  where 
there  is  little  strength  and  little  development. 
The  new-born  child  is  as  truly  alive  as  the 
giant.     This  should  not  make  us  willing  to 
remain  children,  but  it  should  keep  us  from 
pronouncing  that  there  is  no  renewal,  because 
its  evidences  are  small  in  degree.     At  the 
same  time  it  is  to  be  acknowledged,  that  the 
principal  reason  why  any  real  Christians  are 
in  doubt  as  to  their  acceptance,  is  that  the 
degree  of  their  evidence  is  so  small ;  the  fire 
burns  so  low  that  it  can  not  be  perceived 
among  the  ashes ;  and  the  obvious  method 
for  such  persons  is  to  desist  from  the  search 
for  that  which  is  so  small,  and  to  strive  that 
it  may  become  greater. 

The  evidence  of  our  conversion  is  not  he  sought 
in  any  one  moment^  hut  in  the  luhole  tenor  of  the 
life.  Eegeneration  itself  indeed  is  not  gradu- 
al ;  the  transition  from  death  to  life  is  instan- 
taneous ;  but  we  arc  not  competent  to  judge 
117 


6  HAVE   1  COME  TO   CHRIST? 

of  that  single  instant.  Too  great  stress  has 
undoubtedly  been  laid  on  the  marked  charac- 
ter of  the  first  exercises  supposed  to  be  sav- 
ing ;  and  the  error  has  operated  in  twofold  evil, 
by  darkening  the  views  of  the  desponding, 
and  making  the  self-deceiver  more  presump- 
tuous. It  is  not  by  any  single  moment,  even 
though  it  were  the  best,  that  we  can  judge  of 
the  genuineness  of  piety.  Judged  thus,  the 
stony  ground  hearers,  believing  and  rejoicing. 
Matt.  13  :  20,  would  have  been  unblamable. 
In  applying  tests,  we  must  look  at  tendencies 
as  well  as  frames  and  states,  and  must  consider 
the  constancy  no  less  than  the  ardor  of  feel- 
ings and  acts.  Take  into  view  the  whole  of 
your  religious  life  for  years,  if  you  would 
arrive  at  a  sound  conclusion. 

The  last  of  these  preliminaries  is  not  the 
least  important;  it  is,  that  the  difficulty  lies^ 
not  so  much  in  laying  down  marJcs,  as  in  discov- 
ering their  existence  in  the  said.  Marks  there 
are,  and  those  infallible,  as  founded  on  clear 
Scriptures,  which  are  nevertheless  obscure  in 
some  true  believers,  and  seemingly  present  in 
some  hypocrites.  It  would  be  a  sad  mistake  to 
come  with  any  formula,  expecting  to  apply  it 
as  one  docs  a  chemical  test  for  the  discovery 
118 


HAVE  I  COME  TO  CHRIST?  7 

of  a  given  ingredient  in  a  mixture.  The  best 
treatises  may  be  abused  in  tliis  -way.  We 
may  say  with  truth,  for  example,  that  true 
religion  proceeds  from  the  Holy  Spirit;  is 
accompanied  with  spiritual  views  and  relish, 
and  supreme  love  to  God ;  but  the  problem 
is  to  ascertain  the  existence  of  these  very- 
marks.  Still  it  is  important  to  have  in  the 
mind  a  few  unquestionable  tokens  of  the  new 
nature ;  if  for  no  other  reason,  that  we  may 
be  always  trying  to  realize  them  in  our  expe- 
rience. 

Since  the  question  is,  whether  we  have 
come  to  Christ  or  not,  it  may  serve  a  useful 
purpose  to  recur  in  thought  to  the  time  when 
it  was  possible  to  come  to  Christ  by  a  bodily 
approach,  that  is,  the  days  of  his  ministry. 
In  those  days  he  often  uttered  the  words  of 
invitation,  such  as,  ^'  Come  unto  me,"  "  Fol- 
low me ;"  and  these  in  the  first  instance  were 
obeyed  literally.  Many  came  to  him,  and 
remained  with  him.  This,  their  external 
coming,  was  only  in  order  to  a  more  import- 
ant  and  spiritual  coming,  by  means  of  faith ; 
but  one  throws  light  upon  the  other.  Those 
who  so  came  to  Christ  forsook  all  their  previ- 
ous associations;  tliey  henceforth  were  present 


8  HAVE   I   COME   TO   CHRIST? 

with  him  ;  they  were  found  in  possession  of 
those  things  for  which  they  s^  came;  and 
they  stood  in  new  relations  to  Christ  and  to 
his  people.  In  all  these  respects  their  case 
may  guide  in  the  inquiry  how  any  soul  in 
our  day  may  be  known  to  have  come  to 
Christ.  Disavowing,  as  above,  any  attempt 
to  exhaust  this  subject,  let  me  point  out  a  few 
evidences  of  this  great  change. 

I.  He  who  has  come  to  Christ  has  forsaken  his 
former  associations.  When  Jesus  called  dis- 
ciples on  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  he  said,  "  Come 
ye  after  me;"  upon  which  Simeon  and 
Andrew  straightway  "  forsook  their  nets  and 
followed  him."     James  and  John  "  left  their 

father und   went  after  him." 

(Mark  1 :  16-20.)  In  reference  to  which,  one 
of  the  persons  here  named,  said  afterwards : 
"Lo,  we  have  left  all,  and  have  followed 
thee."  (Mark  10  :  28.)  That  comiog  to  Christ 
involves  the  abandoning  of  what  comes  into 
rivalry  with  him,  is  apparent  from  his  own 
words  in  Luke  14 :  33  :  "  Whosoever  he  be  of 
you  that  forsaketh  not  all  that  he  hath,  he  can 
not  be  my  disciple."  And  when  an  inquirei 
pleaded  that  he  must  first  attend  to  the  funeral 
of  his  flither,  "Jesus  said  unto  him,  Follow 
120 


HAVE  I   COME  TO  CHRIST?  9 

me;  and  let  tlie  dead  bur j  their  dead."  (Matt. 
8  :  22.)  This  separation  from  former  ties  is 
represented  as  a  death,  nay,  as  a  crucifixion : 
"  The  world  is  crucified  unto  me,  and  I  unto 
the  world."  (Gal.  6  :  14.)  It  is  a  divorce 
from  the  law,  as  to  its  curse  and  penalty  and 
slavish  fear :  "  Wherefore,  mj  brethren,  ye 
also  are  become  dead  to  the  law,  by  the  body 
of  Christ."  (Eom.  7  :  4.)  It  is  no  less  a 
divorce  from  sin:  ''they  that  are  Christ's, 
have  crucified  the  flesh,  with  the  affections 
and  lusts."  (Gal.  4  :  24.)  That  which  is  to  be 
forsaken  for  Clirist's  sake,  might  all  be  sum- 
med up  in  this  particular,  it  is  sin.  When 
we  renounce,  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the 
devil,  and  the  pomps  and  vanities  of  the 
world,  it  is  really  the  sin  that  is  in  these 
things  which  we  renounce.  The  very  intent 
of  Christ's  coming  was,  "that  he  might  destroy 
the  works  of  the  devil ;"  and  those  who  come 
to  Christ  have  ceased  from  these  works.  The 
gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  has  for  its  object  the 
renewal  of  the  soul  in  holiness;  or,  what 
is  the  same  thing,  its  restitution  to  spiritual 
health.  Keligion  is  only  another  name  for  the 
normal  condition  of  the  soul,  and  in  its  com- 
]^lete  state  the  balance  and  jierfection  of  all 
121 


10        "     HAVE   I   COME  TO  CHKIST? 

the  faculties.  For  this  cause  it  is  that  sancti- 
fication  becomes  evidence  of  justification. 
Sin  can  not  reign  in  a  renewed  soul.  The 
believer  makes  great  use  of  this  in  judging  of 
his  state.  He  hates  those  things  which  he 
once  loved.  The  empty  pleasures  of  the 
world,  forbidden  indulgences,  sensual  joys, 
imrighteous  gains,  every  form  of  falsehood, 
deception,  selfishness,  pride,  malice,  revenge, 
and  whatsoever  God  condemns,  have  become 
as  odious  to  him  as  some  of  them  may  once 
have  been  delightful. 

The  question  is  then  appropriate:  What 
have  you  forsaJcen  f  Sins  will  exist,  and  may 
for  a  time  prevail,  in  truly  regenerate  persons, 
"for  there  is  no  man  that  sinneth  not ;"  but 
they  are  objects  of  abhorrence,  and  do  not  in- 
dicate the  character.  The  seventh  chapter 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Komans  merits  close 
study  in  this  connection ;  for  it  records  the 
experience  of  a  renewed  soul,  yet  of  one 
who  cried,  as  the  reader  may  possibly  have 
done :  "0  wretched  man  that  I  am  1  who 
shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death?" 
(v.  24.)  Yet  this  regenerate  soul  could  also 
say,  in  regard  to  this  very  sin,  and  in  terms 
which  no  ungodly  man  could  adopt :  "  That 
122 


HAVE   I   COME  TO   CHKIST  ?  11 

whicli  I  do  I  allow  not ;  for  wliat  I  would  that 
do  I  not ;  but  what  I  hate  that  do  I ;"  "To  will 
is  present  with  me ;"  "  The  evil  that  I  would 
not,  that  I  do  ;"  "  For  I  delight  in  the  law  of 
•God,  after  the  inward  man."  As  to  the  abiding 
temper  of  his  mind,  the  true  Christian  has  aban- 
doned his  ancient  country,  and  entered  on  a 
new.  The  tide  in  his  affections,  under  some 
temporary  influence  may  run  the  wrong  way, 
but  the  main  stream  ^ill  flows  away  from  sin. 
If  then  you  would  judge  of  your  state,  ask 
how  you  are  affected  towards  the  things 
which  you  profess  to  have  left  for  Christ. 
Have  you  bidden  farewell  to  sin  ?  Do  you 
hate  it  ?  Do  you  loathe  it  ?  Your  past  sins  ; 
are  they  still  bitter  and  humbling,  so  that  you 
are  made  to  posses's  the  iniquities  of  your 
youth  ?  Your  present  sins ;  into  which  you 
have  been  plunged,  as  if  in  spite  of  yourself ; 
do  you  groan  under  them,  as  within  the  coils 
of  a  serpent  ?  Your  future  sins ;  is  the 
thought  of  yet  further  offending  Christ  horri- 
ble to  you  ?  Have  you  abandoned  the  world  ? 
Do  you  shun  the  road  to  sin,  by  avoiding  and 
deprecating  temptation  ?  Are  you  endeavor- 
ing to  mortify  sin,  and  has  God  granted  you 
some  success  in  the  work  ?  These  questions, 
123 


12  HAVE  I  COME  TO  CHKIST  ? 

and  such  as  these,  may  properly  be  suggested  to 
those  who  persuade  themselves  that  they  have 
become  disciples.  And  if  it  truly  appear  that 
in  these  respects  old  things  have  passed  away, 
there  will  be  good  reason  to  believe  that  all 
things  have  become  new. 

n.  He  who  has  come  to  JJhrist  is  actually 
with  Christ.  Does  not  all  personal  coming 
imply  this  ?  He  is  brought  into  the  presence 
of  Christ ;  or  to  vary  the  expression,  Christ  is 
present  to  him.  This  includes  several  parti- 
culars, which  may  be  noticed  with  profit. 

1.  Believing  makes  Christ  present.  We  have 
already  seen  that  this  is  the  very  essence  of 
coming  to  Christ :  it  is  by  believing  that  we 
come :  "  Faith  is  the  evidence  (the  eknchics 
or  conviction)  of  things  not  seen."  (Heb. 
11  :  1.)  Nature  would  prompt  the  wish  that 
we  had  lived  in  the  days  of  Christ's  bodily 
presence  on  earth,  but  faith  reveals  a  Saviour 
"  whom  having  not  seen  ye  love,  in  whom 
though  now  ye  see  him  not,  yet  believing,  ye 
rejoice,  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory,"  He  is  the  same  to  faith,  in  heaven 
and  on  earth,  "  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yester- 
day, to-day  and  forever."  Now  is  Christ 
present   to  your  apprehension?     Have  you 

121 


HAVE  I  COME  TO  CHRIST?  13 

come  to  him  in  tliis  sense?  As  the  question 
is  concerning  your  own  mental  state,  you  may 
fairly  appeal  to  consciousness ;  do  you  then 
believe  ?  Has  the  Lord  Jesus  become  to  you 
such  an  actuality,  that  your  soul  has  come  to 
deal  with  him  personally,  individually,  and 
really,  as  though  he  were  beside  you  in  bodily 
presence,  and  as  if  his  sacred  hand  was  locked* 
in  yours  ?  Are  you  conscious  of  being  near 
to  Christ,  and  present  with  him,  in  such  a 
sense,  as  to  rely  on  him  habitually,  yea,  this 
very  moment,  with  all  the  might  of  your 
soul,  so  that  if  you  were  to  miss  him,  or  even 
suspect  his  absence,  you  would  feel  that  all 
the  prop  of  your  salvation  was  gone  ?  The 
question  as  to  faith  is  best  answered  by  essay- 
ing the  acts  of  faith,  that  is,  by  looking  at  the 
great  object  of  faith.  The  best  way  of  remov- 
ing all  dubiety  as  to  whether  you  have  come 
to  Christ,  is  to  come  now.  And  doubtless 
much  of  the  time  which  we  exhaust  in  search- 
ing for  evidence  of  faith  would  be  better 
spent  by  actually  believing. 

2.  Union  makes  Christ  present.     Nothing  can 

be  more  truly  with  us,  than  that  which  is  one 

with  us.     Faith  is  the  bond  which  unites  us 

to  Christ,  and  thus  compacts  us  into  the  glori- 

125 


14  HAVE  I  COME  TO  CHRIST? 

OTIS  body  of  wliicli  he  is  the  head.  So  far  as 
this  is  a  divine  transaction,  beyond  the  sphere 
of  experience,  it  is  too  transcendent  for  our 
cognizance,  and  can  not  be  summoned  as  evi- 
dence ;  but  this  union  has  its  visible  fruits, 
and  it  is  these,  after  which  we  must  inquire. 
These  fruits  coincide  with  justification,  adop- 
*tion,  and  sanctification,  and  may  be  treated 
of  under  the  following  head : 

3.  He  ivho  is  with  Christ  has  communion 
with  him.  Those  who  hearkened  to  his  voice 
and  came  to  him,  when  he  was  on  earth,  en- 
joyed converse  with  him,  and  delighted  in 
his  society ;  in  the  days  of  rejoicing,  when 
the  "children  of  the  bride-chamber"  were 
too  happy  to  fast. 

Nor  are  such  condescensions  altogethier 
wanting  now.  He  still  knocks  at  the  door, 
and  to  him  who  hears  and  opens,  he  comes  in 
and  sups.  Our  views  are  habitually  too  low, 
in  regard  to  the  possibility  of  enjoying  Christ's 
presence  on  earth.  It  is  to  be  the  joy  of  our 
heaven  hereafter,  but  God  pours  out  to  us 
some  prelibations  on  earth.  The  reality  of 
spiritual  enjoyment,  -^here  the  soul  goes  forth 
to  Christ  in  his  holy  spiritual  attributes, 
affords  bright  evidence  of  having  really  come 
12G 


HAVE  I  COME  TO   CHRIST?  15 

to  him.     Ask  the  question  of  your  closet, 
your  church,  and  your  sacraments. 

in.  He  who  has  come  to  Christ  has  some  pos- 
session of  that  for  which  he  came.  For  what 
did  you  come  to  Christ  ?  The  answer  is  easy, 
for  SALVATION".  It  is  too  common  to  speak 
of  salvation  as  a  remote  or  even  a  contingent 
blessing.  The  believer  is  already  saved.  His 
sins  are  pardoned.  He  can  never  come  into 
condemnation.  He  is  united  to  Christ,  and 
nothing  can  separate  him  from  God's  love. 
He  has  a  new  life,  and  a  new  nature,  being 
regenerated  and  restored  to  God's  image,  and 
conformed  by  sanctification  to  his  nature. 
He  has  the  peace  of  God  begun  in  his  soul. 
In  these  brief  but  comprehensive  statements, 
which  none  can  deny,  is  included  salvation ; 
and  it  is  for  this  that  the  soul  comes  to  Christ. 

All  this  is  admitted  and  incontestable ;  but 
the  difficulty  is  to  derive  from  these  truths 
such  practical  marks  as  shall  enable  us  to  try 
our  own  state.  As  to  pardon,  it  is  the  very 
thing  of  which  we  desire  to  be  assured ;  it 
can  not,  therefore,  be  the  medium  of  proof 
This  is  true,  yet  pardon  is  coordinate  with 
some  other  blessings  for  which  we  approach 


127 


16  HAVE  I  COME  TO   CHRIST? 

the  Lord,  and  which  are  cognizable  in  our 
experience.  Two  of  these  shall  be  meiltioned. 
1.  The  filial  disposition.  He  who  comes  to 
Christ  for  pardon,  and  obtains  it^  receives  a 
salutation  like  that  in  Luke  7  :  48 :  "  Thj 
sins  are  forgiven."  Faith  and  justification  are 
followed  by  peace,  (Rom.  5  :  1,)  as  is  abund- 
antly shown  in  those  glowing  chapters.  Were 
there  more  of  simple  affiance  in  the  word 
of  promise,  there  would  be  more  of  this  evi- 
dence of  having  obtained  pardon.  Though, 
like  the  ''  white  stone,"  it  is  incommunicable 
to  man,  I  am  disposed  to  believe  it  is  in  the 
most  rejoicing  Christians  the  chief  ground  of 
their  comfortable  persuasion  that  God  is 
reconciled.  They  feel  him  to  be  so.  His 
love  (to  them)  is  shed  abroad  in  their  hearts, 
and  they  cry  Abba,  Father.  *  Examine,  my 
reader,  whether  this  be  in  you  and  abound. 
Is  the  spirit  of  servility  and  fear  cast  out? 
Is  the  blood  of  Christ  so  sprinkled  on  your 
heart  and  conscience  as  to  purge  it  from  dead 
works,  and  release  it  from  a  sense  of  wrath  ? 
When  you  kneel  in  prayer,  is  there  any  flow- 
ing of  the  affections  in  a  deep  channel  towards 
God,  as  a  beloved  Father  in  heaven  ?  Unless 
you  mistake  here,  there  is  reason  to  trust,  if 
128 


HAVE  I  COME  TO  CHRIST?  17 

sucIl  are  your  exercises,  that  your  pardon  has 
been  sealed.  But  the  obscurity  of  single  evi- 
dences makes  it  desirable  to  gain  the  con- 
firmation of  concurrent  tokens ;  hence  remem- 
ber that 

2.  Holiness  is  a  part  of  salvation,  and  a  prin- 
cipal blessing  for  which  believers  come  to 
Christ.  The  subject  is  too  wide  to  be  dis- 
cussed in  a  ^paragraph.  Its  difficulties  how- 
ever are  not  theological  but  practical.  All 
agree  that  sanctification  is  good  proof  of  justi- 
fication; but  am  I  sanctified?  Here  is  the 
critical  question,  into  which,  indeed,  all  the 
others  might  be  resolved.  As  long  as  we  live 
we  ought  to  be  daily  pressing  this  inquiry, 
whether  we  are  growing  in  conformity  to  God. 

Under  this  head,  the  subject  of  sanctifi- 
cation may  be  viewed  in  another  aspect. 
He  who  has  come  to  Christ  resembles  Christ. 
The  principle  is  obvious.  Kow  holiness  is 
resemblance  to  Christ.  If  the  Christian 
graces  and  fruits  of  the  Spirit  are  found  in  us, 
they  show  that  we  have  been  with  Christ,  and 
have  caught  some  traits  of  his  character. 
The  subject  is  vast,  so  as  not  to  allow  details. 
There  is  not  a  virtue,  grace,  habit,  act,  feeling, 
thought,  enjoined  or  approved  in  Scripture, 
129 


18  HAVE  I  COME  TO   CHEIST? 

whicli  may  not  come  in  for  a  sliare  in  this 
examination;  and  hence  the  topic  must  be 
dismissed  with  a  simple  recommendation  to 
practice. 

8.  Peace — beautiful,  heavenly  word — ^is  a 
part  of  salvation  ;  it  has  already  gained  our 
attention.  In  quest  of  peace  we  ventured  to* 
seek  Christ,  even  before  we  had  a  spiritual 
relish  for  holiness,  and  he  graciously  vouch- 
safed not  to  cast  us  off  for  preferring  the  effect 
to  the  cause.  But  true  peace  is  a  divine 
quality,  and  where  it  prevails  shows  that  the 
soul  has  been  brought  to  Christ.  There  is  a 
false  peace,  and  the  chief  task  is  to  distinguish 
this.  Eecourse  must  be  had  to  the  characters 
of  true  peace,  which  have  been  frequently 
indicated ;  the  chief  of  these  being  that  gen- 
uine peace  is  founded  on  Christ,  is  consistent 
with  high  activity,  is  inseparable  from  earnest 
endeavors  to  maintain  universal  holiness.  If 
the  tranquillity  which  followed  your  supposed 
believing  has  left  you  easy  in  conscience  and 
less  scrupulous  about  offending ;  if  you  have 
less  veneration  of  God's  majesty,  and  less  fear 
of  offending,  and  less  sense  of  your  need  of 
attoning  blood,  and  less  hatred  of  corrupt 
habits  and  motions,  then  be  assured  it  is  a 
130 


HAVE   I  COME  TO  CHRIST?  19 

spurious,  and  is  likely  to  be  a  destructive  calm. 
But  if  in  connection  with  a  persuasion  of  par- 
don, and  an  increasing  purity,  you  grow  hap- 
pier and  happier,  there  seems  to  be  ground  to 
think  that  you  are  saved ;  in  other  words, 
that  you  have  possession  of  that  for  which 
you  sought  Christ. 

IV.  He  who  has  come  to  Clirist  stands  in  new 
relations  to  Christ  and  to  his  people:  and  of 
this  he  has  some  inward  feeling,  which  enables 
him  to  use  it  as  a  testimony. 

1.  A  relation  of  friendship.  Those  who  com- 
panied  with  Jesus  as  disciples  were  his  friends, 
and  as  such  they  loved  him.  To  be  without 
this  affection  is  to  be  under  the  curse :  "  If 
any  man  love  not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  let 
him  be  Anathema  Maranatha."  If  you  could 
only  ascertain  beyond  a  doubt  that  you  love 
the  Lord,  you  would  at  once  possess  the  high- 
est evidence  of  faith,  and,  so  far  as  this  inquiry 
is  concerned,  might  desist  from  seeking  other 
testimony.  Here  we  are  authorized  to  inquire 
of  our  own  consciousness,  by  the  example  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  himself,  who  thrice  said  to 
Peter,  after  his  denial :  "  Simon,  son  of  Jonas, 
lovest  thou  me  ?"  And  this  instance  shows 
us  that  even  an  imperfect  disciple  may  some- 
131 


20  HAVE   I   COME   TO   CHRIST? 

times  have  such  witness  as  to  exclaim  with  a 
burst  of  humble,  affectionate  confidence: 
"Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things  ;  thou  know- 
est  that  I  love  thee  I"  Though  the  great  cri- 
terion of  love  is  its  fruit,  we  are  not  to  de- 
spise its  actual  motions  in  the  soul.  As  no 
man  can  be  the  subject  of  a  high  affection 
without  some  knowledge  of  it,  we  may  justly 
expect  to  have  some  direct  cognizance  of 
strong  love  to  Christ.  Those  who  are  so 
affected  towards  him,  have  his  sacred  person 
much  in  their  thoughts,  and  prize  all  those 
means,  such  as  meditation,  prayer,  and  sacra- 
ments, which  bring  him  to  the  thoughts ;  and 
have  a  consciousness  of  something  more  than 
a  dull,  neutral  approbation  and  respect,  being 
drawn  out  towards  his  adorable  character  and 
person  with  a  tenderness  and  warmth  as  real 
and  unmistakable  as  what  they  experience 
towards  friends  or  offspring.  Friends  think 
much  of  one  another ;  deliberately  call  up  the 
beloved  image ;  seek  correspondence  and 
mutual  tokens  and  messages ;  ardently  press 
towards  society  and  intimate  fellowship; 
lament  over  absence;  seek  the  honor  and 
advantage  of  one  another  ;  and  ascribe  to  the 
most  indifferent  objects  a  preciousness  if  they 
132 


HAVE  I  COME  TO   CH^ST  ?  21 

stand  related  to  the  cherished  object.  Let 
each  of  the  tests  here  condensed  into  a  sen- 
tence, be  expanded  in  the  secret  examination 
of  your  heart. 

2.  The  relation  of  service.     "  If  ye  love  me, 
keep  my  commandments."     There  is  no  love 
which  does  not  work  obedience.     No  labor, 
sacrifice,  or  suffering  is  too  great  for  love; 
thus  it  fulfills  the  law.    The  "  love  of  Christ," 
says    Paul,    "  constrains    us."       The  whole 
Christian  service  of  the  Church  is  only  love 
in  act.     "  In  this  the  children  of  Grod  are 
manifest,    and   the    children  of   the    devil ; 
whosoever  doeth  not  righteousness  is  not  of 
God."    (John  3  :  10.)     The  principle  is  plain 
and  too  familiar  to  need  a  word  more,  but  its 
application  demands  unremitting  care.     Look 
inward  on  your  heart  and,  backward  on  your 
life,  and  see  whether  love  has  wrought  per- 
formance.   "  My  little  children,  let  us  not  love 
in  word,  neither  in  tongue,  but  in  deed  and 
truth."     (1  John  3  :  18.)     The  scope  of  the 
inquiry  is  hence  as  wide  as  the  entire  field  of 
divine  command  and  human  obedience,  and 
must  be  dismissed  with  a  recommendation  to 
make  scrutiny  as  to  the  fact. 

3.  Relation   of  f rater nily  to    those    who    are 
133 


22  HAV^  I  COME  TO   CHRIST? 

Christ's.  Nothing  can  be  more  obvious  than 
the  operation  of  the  principle.  That  which 
draws  men  to  Christ  draws  them  to  one 
another.  The  Apostle  John,  who  had  learnt 
the  nature  of  love  from  lying  on  the  bosom 
of  incarnate  Love,  declares  this  mark  to  be 
infallible :  "  This  is  the  message  that  ye  heard 
from  the  beginning,  that  we  should  love  one 
another.  We  know  that  we  have  passed 
from  death  unto  life,  because  we  love  the 
brethren."  (1  John  3  :  11, 14.)  And  his  argu- 
ment is  that  hatred  between  brothers  is  hell- 
ish :  "  Whosoever  hateth  his  brother  is  a  mur- 
der," and  a  Cain  ;  (vv.  12  and  15.)  ''  If  a  man 
say  I  love  God,  and  hateth  his  brother,  he  is 
a  liar.  For  he  that  loveth  not  his  brother, 
whom  he  hath  seen,  how  can  he  love  God 
whom  he  hath  not  seen?"  (1  John  4  :  20.) 
Even  though  treatises  upon  the  evidences  of 
piety  may  not  give  prominence  to  this  mark, 
it  occupies  a  high  place  in  Scripture,  and 
admits  of  more  easy  application  to  our  expe- 
rience than  many  others.  Are  you  then  in 
charity  with  those  who  profess  to  be  Christ's 
friends?  Do  you  freely  forgive  them,  even 
as  you  look  for  forgiveness  yourself  ?  even  to 
the  seventy  times  seven  ?  Are  you  not  only 
134 


HAVE   I   COME  TO   CHRIST?  23 

forgiving,  but  prompt  to  be  reconciled,  and 
resolute,  at  every  hazard,  to  remove  the  scan- 
dal of  livinsr  in  alienation  ?  These  are  amons 
the  most  ordinary  demands  of  Christianity  ; 
we  must  look  further.  In  respect  to  those 
who  give  evidence  of  being  not  only  professed 
but  real  believers,  do  you  love  the  image  of 
Christ  as  reflected  in  them?  Have  you  so 
much  of  the  reality  of  religion  as  to  have 
risen  above  the  haughty  pharisaism  of  gilded 
vulgarity,  in  those  who  sit  doiun  at  the  Lord's 
table  ivith  a  brother  to-day^  and  deem  him 
uniuorthy  of  a  salutation  to-morrow?  Have 
you  been  long  enough  with  Jesus  to  have 
learnt  that  connection  with  him  is  the  great- 
est of  distinctions  ;  greater  than  the  difference 
between  one  quality  of  honor  and  another,  or 
once  degree  of  fortune  and  another,  or  one 
branch  of  trafl&c  and  another,  or  one  profes- 
sion and  another;  and  that  "  Christian  is  the 
highest  style  of  man"  ?  If  you  have  not, 
"  Are  ye  not  then  partial  in  yourselves,  and 
are  become  judges  of  evil  thoughts?"  (James 
2  :  4.)  The  disregard  of  this  duty  is  perhaps 
the  most  prevalent  form  of  unfaithfulness 
now  existing  in  our  churches,  especially  in 
commercial  cities ;  nor  do  I  suppose  there  is 
135 


24:  HAVE  I   COME  TO   CHRIST? 

an  individual  among  us  wHo  is  not  guilty  of 
it  every  day.  It  is  offensive  to  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  diametrically  opposed  to  the  whole 
course  of  his  lovely  example.  It  is  not  pa- 
tronage, but  respectful  love,  that  we  demand 
in  the  name  of  Christ  for  his  poor  members, 
forewarning  the  rich  that  the  day  will  arrive 
when  lie  will  say  :  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  not 
to  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  to 
me."    (Matt.  25  :  -iS.) 


136 


MY  TEACHEE-MY  MASTER. 


After  our  blessed  Saviour  had  washed 
his  apostles'  feet,  he  uttered  this  memorable 
saying:  "Ye  call  me  Master  and  Lord; 
and  ye  say  well,  for  so  I  am."^  All  careful 
students  of  Scripture  know  that  in  this,  and 
many  parallel  places,  the  word  "Master" 
is  old-English  for  Teacher;  and  that  the 
word  "Lord"  is  equivalent  to  Kuler,  Com- 
mander, Prince,  or  Master.  Without  chang- 
ing our  excellent  translation,  we  may  then 
regard  Jesus  as  saying :  "Ye  call  me  Teach- 
er and  Master,  and  ye  do  well ;  for  so  I 
am."  In  every  revival  of  religion,  in  every 
sound^  conversion,  the  repentant  soul  takes 
Christ  as  his  Teacher  and  his  Master.  Eeader, 
is  it  so  with  thee  ? 

At  a  time  when  thousands  are  openly  con- 
fessing Christ,  it  is  of  infinite  moment  that 

1  John  13:  13. 
137 


4  MY  TEACIIBR — MY   MASTER. 

every  one  should  see  to  it  tliat  lie  receives  the 
Lord  just  as  he  is  offered  in  the  Gospel.  Do 
not  here  mistake  the  drift  of  the  caution.  In 
order  to  justification,  remission  of  sins,  abso- 
lution, or  acceptance  with  God,  you  receive 
the  Lord  Jesus  in  his  character  of  Substitute, 
Vicarious  Sacrifice,  Lamb  of  God,  and  Atoning 
Priest.  But  Christ  is  not  merely  Priest,  he 
is  also  Prophet  and  King.  Christ  means 
Anointed;  and  there  are  three  anointings; 
mark  them  well.  The  Prophet  is  anointed, 
the  Priest  is  anointed,  the  Ejng  is  anointed. 
The  Christ  whom  you  have  received,  at  your 
believing,  is  all  three  at  once.  This  is  no 
nice  point  of  the  theological  schools,  but  a 
plain,  simple  lesson  of  Scripture.  You  think 
yourself  converted;  do  you  receive  Jesus, 
saying  to  him  from  the  heart:  "  My  Teacher, 
my  Master  ?" 

My  Teacher  I 

"  Mary  I"  said  the  risen  Lord  to  his  weep- 
ing disciple.^  "  She  turned  herself,  and  saith 
unto  him,  Eabboni,  which  is  to  say.  Master," 
(or  in  the  original  Greek,)  MY  Teacher  I  Have 

1  John  20  :  IG. 
138 


MY  TEACHER — MY  MASTER.  5 

you,  0  sinful,  but  hopeful  soul !  taken  this 
great  teaclier,  as  such,  to  you?  Formerly, 
you  were  blind.  If  you  have  been  made  to 
see,  it  is  He  who  opened  your  eyes.  He  is 
the  "  true  light."  Predicted  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament as  the  great  Prophet  of  His  people, 
He  is .  the  giver  of  all  their  spiritual  know- 
ledge. Until  He  touched  your  eyes,  you  were 
in  gross  darkness  as  to  the  very  elements  of 
saving  truth.  This  ignorance  did  not  appear 
so  great,  till  the  time  when  the  Law  entered 
your  soul  and  made  you  tremble.  Then,  al- 
most wildly,  you  went  to  and  fro,  asking : 
"  Men  and  brethren,  what  must  I  do  ?"  Yoitr 
former  knowledge  was  now  turned  into  fool- 
ishness. You  were  willing  to  be  taught  as  a 
babe.  The  language  of  your  thoughts  was : 
"Who  will  tell  me  the  meaning  of  these 
rnysterious  words :  '  Kepent,' '  Believe,'  '  Come 
to  Christ,'  'Look  unto  Christ,'  'Yield  your- 
selves to  God'  ?"  At  length  you  were  illu- 
minated, as  to  the  import  ^f  these  terms,  by 
being  made  to  experience  the  blessed  reality. 
Old  things  passed  away,  all  things  became 
new.  You  learned  what  repentance  is,  by 
repenting ;  what  faith  is,  by  believing ;  and 
what  coming  to  Christ  is,  by  casting  your 
139 


6  MY  TEACHER — MY  MASTER. 

guilty  soul  upon  his  propitiation.  In  all 
tliis,  it  was  your  Prophet  who  enlightened ; 
and  he  must  enlighten  still. 

''  Never  man  spake  like  this  man ;"  so  they 
said  during  his  ministry  on  earth.  His  fol- 
lowers were  called  "disciples,"  that  is,  schol- 
ars or  learners.  He  was  a  condescending 
teacher.  "Learn  of  me,  for  I  am  meek  and 
lowly."^  Tens  of  thousands  were  taught  by 
him  then ;  millions  have  been  taught  by  him 
since ;   for  his  school  is  open  to  this  day. 

Your  blessed  Teacher,  0  disciple  I  in- 
structs by  the  Spirit  and  the  Word.  These 
two,  which  God  hath  joined,  let  not  man  put 
asunder.  Seek  not  light  of  the  Spirit  with- 
out the  "Word.  Eely  not  on  the  letter  of  the 
Word  without  the  Spirit.^  Come  to  Jesus  for 
both.  Though  in  his  humanity  Christ  is  in 
heaven,  he  is  on  earth  in  his  divinity,  and 
by  his  Spirit ;  as  he  promised :  "  When  he, 
the  Spirit  of  Truth,  is  come,  he  will  guide 
you  into  all  truth^'^  Delay  not,  amidst  the 
excitements  of  early  love,  to  place  yourself  at 
the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  to  learn  holy  wisdom 
from  his  gracious  lips. 

1  Matt.  11  :  29.  2  Read  Isaiah  59  :  21- 

3  John  16  :  13. 

140 


MY  TEACHER — MY  MASTEE. 


My  Master! 

If  your  supposed  turning  to  God  has  made 
you  easy  in  your  sins,  your  conversion  is 
counterfeit.  "  Why  call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord, 
and  do  not  the  things  which  I  say  ?"^  The 
very  instant  that  you  took  Christ  for  your 
Kedeemer,  you  took  him  for  your  Lord  and 
Master.  Faith  and  Obedience,  it  is  true,  are 
not  the  same.  Faith,  and  not  Obedience,  is 
the  instrument  of  justification.^  Neverthe- 
less, Faith  and  Obedience  are  sisters  who  al- 
ways walk  hand  in  hand.  When  your  pained 
heart,  looking  to  Christ  bleeding  on  the  cross, 
said,  My  Saviour  !  it  said  equally,  My  Mas- 
ter I  This  13  obedience  in  the  bud.  Faith 
worketh  by  love,  and  love  realizes  itself  in 
obedience. 

There  is  something  inexpressibly  dehghtful 
in  exchanging  that  old  legal  bondage,  under 
which  duties  were  rendered  to  an  unreconciled 
God,  amidst  groans  and  weakness,  for  a  will- 
ing service,  a  gospel  liberty,  in  which  obli- 
gation is  swallowed  up  in  grateful,  admiring 
acquiescence.    Who  that  beholds,  by  faith, 

1  Luke  G  :  'IG.  2  Rom.  3  :  20-28. 

141 


8  MY  TEACHER — MY   MASTER. 

the  loveliness  of  such  a  Lord,  can  fail  to  obey 
him  ?  Precious  is  the  relation  to  Jesus,  by 
which  we  receive  the  law  out  of  his  hands. 
Thus  the  tables  of  stone  were  sacredly  laid 
away  under  the  golden  propitiatory  !^  "Ye 
serve  the  Lord  Christ."^  ISTever  can  you 
obey  so  sweetly  as  when  you  render  even  the 
smallest  service  of  menial  life  to  him ;  as  if 
you  said  in  your  heart.  Though  working  late 
with  axe  or  needle,  in  factory  or  kitchen,  "  I 
do  this  for  my  Master P  Is  not  the  very  title 
welcome  to'  thine  ear,  O  converted  soul  ? 
"Where  wouldst  thou  go  to  find  a  better 
service  I 

"How  sweetly  doth  My  Master  sound;  my  MASTEi.  ] 
As  ambergris  leaves  a  rich  scent 
Unto  the  taster  | 
So  do  these  words  a  sweet  content, 

An  oriental  fragrancy :  my  Master  I 
My  Master,  shall  I  speak  ?    Oh !  that  to  Thee, 
My  servant  were  a  little  so, 
As  flesh  may  be  ; 
That  these  two  words  might  creep,  and  grow 

To  some  degree  of  spiciness  to  Thee  1 
For  when  My  Master  (which  alone  is  sweet 
And  e'en  in  my  un worthiness  pleasing) 
Shall  call  and  meet 

1  Deut  10:  5.  2  CoL  3:  24. 

142 


MY  TEACHER — MY  MASTER.  9 

My  servant,  as  Thee  not  displeasing; 

Thy  call  is  but  the  breathing  of  the  sweet 
This  breathing*  would  with  gains  by  sweet'ning  me, 

(As  sweet  things  traffic  when  they  meet,) 
Return  to  Thee ; 
And  so  this  new  commerce  and  sweet 

Should,  all  my  life,  employ  and  busy  me." 

So  sang  tlie  liol j  poet,  of  wliom  Izaak  Wal- 
ton writes  thus :  "  He  seems  to  rejoice  in  the 
thoughts  of  that  word  Jesus,  and  say  that  the 
adding  of  these  words,  'My  Master,'  to  it,  and 
the  often  repetition  of  them,  seemed  to  per- 
fume his  mind,  and  leave  an  oriental  fra- 
grancy  in  his  very  breath."  Distrust  that 
sort  of  experience,  dear  reader,  which  is 
unaccompanied  with  a  fresher  purpose  to 
please  Christ.  Kejecting,  with  indignation 
and  loathing,  all  works  of  your  own,  con- 
sidered as  the  procuring  cause  of  your  justifi- 
cation, at  the  same  time  perform  all  the  works 
you  can,  as  a  service  of  love  to  Him  whom 
you  call  Master  and  Lord. 

There  are  those  who  dream  of  being  saved 
in  their  sins.  By  a  horrible  abuse,  they  talk 
loudly  of  being  washed  in  the  blood  of  Christ 
and  placed  in  gospel  liberty,  "while  they 
themselves  are  the  servants  of  corruption."^ 

1  2  Pet.  2  :  19. 
14:3 


10  MY  TEACHER— MY  MASTER. 

What  is  tliis  but  to  cast  defilement  over  the 
sacred  tree  on  which  the  immaculate  Jesus 
died?  By  this  name  is  he  called,  because 
he  saves  his  people  ''''from  their  sins^ 
Though,  therefore,  you  trusted  in  his  right- 
eousness, and  not  in  jour  own,  for  acceptance 
and  pardon,  you  accepted  him  as  your  com- 
mander and  king,  to  obey  him  forever.  At 
the  blessed  moment  when  you  received  him 
as  your  satisfying  Priest  and  bleeding  sacri- 
fice, you  uttered  with  one  and  the  same 
breath,  if  we  may  so  speak,  the  aspiration, 
"Lord,  I  give  myself  to  thee  to  be  justified ;" 
and,  "Lord,  I  give  myself  to  thee  to  be 
sanctified."  I  believe — I  love  !  My  new  life, 
of  trust  and  obedience,  begins  here.  My  Sav- 
iour— my  Master ! 

My  Teacher  I  My  Master  I 

Let  us  take  them  both  together,  for  the 
Lord  Jesus  is  both.  In  both  characters  let 
us  draw  nigh  to  him.  We  are  both  ignorant 
and  sinful,  and  the  ignorance  and  sin  act  and 
re-act  on  each  other.  The  connection  between 
light  and  love,  between  truth  and  holy  living, 
is  often  set  forth  in  Scripture :  "  If  we  say 
111 


MY  TEACHER — MY  MASTER.  11 

that  we  tave  fellowship  in  him,  and  walk  in 
darkness,  we  lie,  and  do  not  the  truth."^  Be 
it  our  daily  business  to  resort  to  the  Lord 
Jesus,  as  a  present  Saviour,  for  spiritual  in- 
struction and  commandments  to  be  obeyed. 
O  young  Christian !  enter  at  once  into  this 
confidential  relation  to  the  Lord.  Ask  him. 
for  teaching,  ask  him  for  hohness.  Who 
was  it  that  said  to  Paul :  "  My  grace  is  suffi- 
cient for  thee?"  It  was  ''the  Lord,"  it  was 
Jesus.  For,  hear  the  apostle's  boast :  "  Most 
gladly,  therefore,  will  I  rather  glory  in  my 
infirmities,  that  the  power  of  Christ  may  rest 
upon  me."^ 

Adorable  Jesus  [  I  am  dark  with  sin ;  I 
am  laden  with  iniquity.  Be  thou  my  light 
and  my  salvation.  Teach  me  truth ;  teach 
me  duty.     For  thine  am  I  forever.     Amen. 

1  1  John  1:6.  2  2  Cor.  12:9. 


145 


12  MY  TEACHER — MY  MASTER. 


Entire  Consecration. 

Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, 
One  in  Three,  and  Three  in  One, 

As  by  the  celestial  host, 

Let  thy  will  on  earth  be  done  ; 

Praise  by  all  to  thee  be  given. 

Glorious  Lord  of  earth  and  heaven. 

Vilest  of  the  sinful  race, 

Lo  1  I  answer  to  thy  call : 
Meanest  vessel  of  thy  grace, 

Grace  divinely  free  for  all ; 
Lo  1  I  come  to  do  thy  will, 
All  thy  counsel  to  fulfiU. 

If  so  poor  a  worm  as  I 

May  to  thy  great  glory  live, 

All  my  actions  sanctify. 
All  my  words  and  thoughts  receive : 

Claim  me  for  thy  service,  claim 

All  I  have,  and  all  I  am. 

Take  my  soul  and  body's  powers ; 

Take  my  mem'ry,  mind,  and  will  j 
All  my  goods,  and  all  my  hours  ; 

All  I  know,  and  all  I  feel , 
All  I  think,  or  speak,  or  do ; 
Take  my  heart,  but  make  it  new 


146 


MY  BROTHER. 


All  men,  of  all  ages,  climes,  and  complex- 
ions, have  a  common  parentage;  all  are  in- 
volved in  a  common  fall ;  all  are  regarded  by 
a  common  salvation.  Wherever  he  comes 
within  the  range  of  our  help,  every  human 
creature  is  entitled  to  our  beneficence.  It  is 
the  law  of  the  Old  Testament  and  of  the 
New.  Second  only  to  the  love  of  God,  is  the 
love  of  man.  The  true  maxim  of  philanthropy 
is :  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself 
The  Spirit  of  Grace  awakens  and  perpetuates 
this  disposition  in  every  subject  of  renewal. 

But  while  the  Law  of  Love  enjoins  this 
temper  of  helpful  kindness  towards  all  the 
children  of  Adam,  it  nowhere  commands  a 
chimerical  and  impracticable  regard  for  all 
alike.  It  has  no  levelling  philosophy,  to 
equalize  affection  for  all  objects,  and  thus  dif- 
147 


2  MY   BROTHER. 

fuse  emotions  so  thinly  as  to  reduce  them  to 
an  inefficient  indifference.  The  Gospel  recog- ' 
nizes  degrees  in  the  outgoings  of  the  heart. 
It  owns  the  names  of  husband  and  wife,  pa- 
rent and  child,  brother  and  sister,  friend  and 
neighbor,  coeval  and  countryman.  It  lays  on 
us  the  duty — rather  it  confers  the  privilege, 
of  loving  some  more  than  others,  and  brethren 
in  Christ  more  than  all.  And  as  if  for  a  guide 
and  permission  in  all  ages,  even  among  the 
apostles  there  was  one  disciple  whom  Jesus 
loved,  preeminently,  and  with'a  singular  glow 
of  melting  affection.  So  that  the  way  is  pre- 
pared for  us  to  consider  yet  more  nearly  the 
lesson  of  the  Scriptures. 

1.  In  our  little  analysis  of  this  Christian 
love,  it  may  be  well  to  begin  with  one  of  the 
lowest,  and  therefore  most  intelligible  princi- 
ples of  the  attachment.  We  find  that  affec- 
tion springs  up  among  those  who  have  inter- 
course^ association^  and  community  of  thoughts 
and  interests.  The  inquiry  becomes  abstruse 
if  we  push  it  too  far  into  recondite  sources ; 
but  the  fact  is  open  to  all  the  world.  You 
have  —  unless  you  are  the  most  forlorn  of 
men — 2^  friend.  You  carry  him  often  in  your 
wilhng  thoughts;  you  crave  his  presence, 
.    1-tS 


MY  BROTHER.  6 

and  are  drawn  toward  bim  bv  an  irresistible 
fascination ;  you  are  complacent  when  be  is 
near  you,  even  in  silence  and  inaction ;  you 
sigb  wben  long  separated ;  you  plan  wbat 
sball  give  bim  pleasure  ;  you  reproacb  your- 
self wben  be  is  pained.  In  tbe  degree  of 
your  regard,  you  are  willing  to  labor,  to  dare, 
to  suffer  for  bis  sake.  You  take  fire  wbeiiMfc 
is  calumniated ;  you  are  bappy  wben  be''*Is 
praised.  But  I  will  not  rebearse  tbe  mani- 
fold operations  of  fiiendsbip.  Wbehce  came 
all  tbis  ?  As  bas  been  admitted,  some  of  tbe 
springs  are  remote  and  obscure ;  but  some  of 
tbem  are  fully  in  view.  Tbere  bas  been  some 
companionship.  Without  tbis  tbere  may  be 
respect,  admiration,  even  distant  love ;  but 
oh !  how  different  from  the  fervors  which 
kindle  after  delightful  society,  and  the  long 
commerce  of  heart  with  heart !  Tbis  indeed 
would  scarcely  exist  for  so  long  a  time,  unless 
there  were  some  congeniality  of  views  and 
tempers,  some  opportunities  of  interview,  some 
community  of  pursuit  and  aim.  But  day  by 
day  the  band  of  wreathed  attachments  acquires 
new  strands,  till  tbe  fondness  of  youth  becomes 
the  sober  but  inviolable  friendship  of  old  age. 
Now  all  tbis  finds  its  place  in  tbe  association 
149 


4  MY  BROTHER. 

of  Christian  minds.  Not,  however,  in  the 
same  degree,  and  therefore  the  amount  even 
of  religious  love  must  vary.  In  a  certain 
humbler  sense,  I  may  love  the  whole  Church, 
as  the  unknown  follower  of  Christ  in  Eussia 
or  Hindostan ;  but  not  as  I  love  the  companion 
of  prayers  and  tears  and  sacraments.     The 

•panionship  of  Christian  service,  devotion, 
daily  life  tends  directly  to  the  increase  of 
this  peculiar  tie.  And  hence  the  most  im- 
portant practical  rule — that  if  we  would  love 
the  brotherhood  we  must  cultivate  Christian 
society.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  a  too  insu- 
lated experience.  That  disciple  must  be 
crippled  ii^  his  growth,  who  knows  nothing 
of  spiritual  communion,  "We  are  not  to  make 
our  pilgrimage  as  solitaries,  nor  to  live  out 
our  days  as  hermits.  Evangelical  piety  is 
eminently  social.  The  constitution  of  the 
Church  and  all  the  means  of  grace  evince 
this.  What  are  our  Sabbath  assemblies,  our 
social  meetings  for  devotion,  our  common 
prayers,  our  mingled  songs  of  praise,  above 
all  our  sacramental  communions,  but  so  many 
ministries  of  holy  fellowship  ?  Despise  them 
not;  neglect  them  not;  nor  yet  those  more 
frequent    and  more  informal  interviews   of 

150 


MY  BROTHER.  5 

friend  with  friend,  in  which  the  Christian 
character  acts  itself  out,  in  the  confidential 
flow  of  unstudied  converse  and  tender  recip- 
rocal affection.  If  we  have  unfortunately 
allowed  our  emotions  to  be  pent  up,  and  our 
religion  to  become  recluse  and  hidden,  let  us 
own  the  fault,  and  endeavor  to  flow  together 
with  at  least  one  kindred  mind,  which  seeks 
and  prizes  the  same  great  objects  with  our- 
selves. 

2.  The  principle  is  much  the  same,  though 
operating  in  a  higher  plane,  where  we  per- 
ceive, further,  that  Christian  brotherhood  is 
promoted  by  a  common  object  of  affection. 
Disciples  agree  in  loving  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  this  increases  their  love  to  one 
another.  We  see  the  effect  of  this  cause,  in 
common  life.  Attachment  to  the  same  friend 
or  superior,  knits  hearts  together.  There  are 
cases,  indeed,  where  the  result  seems  to  be  op- 
posite, and  where  pursuit  of  the  same  object 
engenders  rivalship,  jealousy,  and  hate.  It 
will  be  readily  observed,  however,  that  these 
are  cases  where  the  object  is  limited,  and 
where  only  one  can^ave  possession.  Not  so 
with  the  great  centre  of  the  believer's  hope. 
As  milHons  may  bask  in  the  vivifying  rays  of 
151 


6  MY  BROTHER. 

• 

the  natural  sun,  so  all  believers,  without  col- 
lision or  envy,  may  look  towards  the  same  in- 
finite God  and  Saviour.  Thus  it  is  in  many 
a  domestic  instance.  Who  can  doubt  that  the 
mutual  affection  of  children  is  cemented  by 
regard  for  the  same  parents  ?  On  the  other 
hand,  where  unnatural  divisions  arise  between 
one  parent  and  the  other,  the  httle  common- 
wealth falls  into  factions,  or  draws  asunder  in 
cold  dislike.  Soldiers  of  the  same  favorite 
commander,  subjects  of  the  same  beloved 
sovereign,  are  by  this  very  community  of  aim 
drawn  into  one.  It  were  strange  if  this  should 
not  hold  good  in  religion ;  where  all  adore  and 
serve  the  same  God,  and  all  unite  in  devotion 
to  the  same  Lord  and  Kedeemer.  Every  dis- 
ciple is  a  lover  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The 
affection  is  characteristic  and  influential. 
Pervading  great  numbers  with  a  common 
glow,  it  can  not  but  fuse  them  together.  They 
must  grow  in  likeness.  As  crowds  that  press 
towards  some  one  central  object  thereby  are 
compacted  together,  so  Christians  come  nearer 
to  one  another  by  coming  nearer  to  Christ. 
That  congeniality,  which  is  inseparable  from 
all  friendship,  is  secured  by  the  tender  and 
awakened  contemplation  of  the  "  one  Medi- 
152 


MY  BROTHER.  7 

ator  between  God  and  man,  the  man  Christ 
Jesus,"  especially  when  holy  love,  heightened 
by  the  sympathy  of  multitudes,  gazes  on  his 
dying  compassion,  and  gathers  around  the 
sacrifice  of  the  Cross.  Then  it  is,  that  "  our 
fellowship  is  with  the  Father,  and  with  his 
Son  Jesus  Christ." 

3.  Love  of  the  brethren  is  promoted  by  the 
consideration  that  all  the  brethren  are  objects  of 
Christ^ s  love.  I  am  naturally  predisposed  to 
love  him  whom  my  friend  loves.  All  Christ- 
tians  are  children  of  God,  through  Jesus 
Christ ;  and  hence  their  relation  is  that  of 
fraternity.  The  more  we  value  the  mercy  and 
grace  of  the  Eedeemer,  the  more  shall  we 
cherish  those  who  are  its  objects.  Ascertain 
that  any  human  creature  belongs  to  Christ, 
and  you  have  made  him  near  to  you ;  though 
he  were  an  Indian  barbarian,  whose  language 
you  could  not  comprehend.  Therefore  we 
can  not  love  God  and  Christ  without  loving 
the  brotherhood.  Hence  the  apostle  who  re- 
posed on  Jesus'  breast,  makes  it  a  test  of  sin- 
cerity. "  He  that  saith  he  is  in  the  light,  and 
hateth  his  brother,  is  in  darkness,  even  until 
now."  "Whosoever  loveth  not  is  not  of 
God,  neither  he  that  loveth  not  his  brother." 
153 


8  MY  BROTHER. 

"  He  that  loveth  not  his  brother  abideth  in 
death."  And,  referring  it  to  the  very  princi- 
ple of  the  text,  he  adds :  "  For  he  that  loveth 
not  his  brother,  whom  he  hath  seen,  how 
shall  he  love  God,  whom  he  hath  not  seen?" 
It  ought  forever  to  drive  away  our  selfish  in- 
difference toward  fellow-Christians,  that  there 
is  not  one  of  them  whom  the  tlessed  Lord  has 
not  loved  even  unto  death.  Can  any  paltry 
reason  of  self-interest  be  pleaded,  in  compari- 
son with  such  a  claim  as  this  ?  Whatever  the 
poor,  contemned  creature  may  be  in  earthly 
respects,  .  .  Christ  loves  Tiiin^  .  .  .  that  should 
be  enough.  But  this  cause  becomes  greatly 
more  operative,  when  numerous  believers  con- 
sciously join  at  the  same  moment  in  acts  of 
homage  and  affection,  towards  the  Chief  among 
ten  thousand.  Then,  when  all  eyes  have  one 
direction,  when  all  pulses  swell  with  one 
sacred  passion,  when  all  voices  flow  together 
in  concordant  utterance  of  one  name,  when 
all  tears  combine  to  celebrate  one  feast  of 
sacriffce,  the  sense  of  brotherhood  is  stronger 
than  any  where  on  earth.  And  this  is  the 
true  glory  of  church-assemblies.  For  this 
the  panting  disciple  longs  to  be  gathered  with 
the  great  congregation ;  to  meet  his  Lord^  and 
154 


MY  BROTHER.  9 

to  meet  his  hretkren.  Even  the  neglected,  un- 
known, and  depressed  servant  of  Christ,  feels 
at  such  a  time  that  his  sohtude  is  broken  by 
the  fellowship  of  adoring  saints,  and  believes 
anew  in  the  unity  of  the  Lord's  body.  From 
which  we  learn  how  much  brotherly  love  is 
cultivated  by  a  diligent,  hopeful  and  ar- 
dent attendance  on  acts  of  common  worship, 
first  in  the  sabbath  assembly,  and  then  in  the 
more  select  and  fraternal  associations  of  piety. 
Either  way  then,  by  our  love  to  Christ,  by 
Christ's  love  to  us,  we  are  made  to  grow  to- 
gether in  the  bond  of  perfectness. 

4.  The  hroiherhood  all  hear  the  resemblance  of 
the  Lord  Jesus^  and  therefore  are  dear  to  one 
another.  The  principle  is  thus  stated  by  the 
apostle  John :  "  Every  one  that  loveth  him 
that  begat,  loveth  him  also  that  is  begotten  of 
him."  The  love  of  Christ  is  essentially  the 
same  with  the  love  of  infinite  moral  perfection, 
or  the  beauty  of  holiness  of  which  he  is  the 
highest  impersonation.  Every  true  believer 
is  joined  to  Christ,  receives  his  Spirit,  and  has 
the  beginnings  of  a  spiritual  resemblance, 
which  shall  go  on  to  perfect  assimilation,  ac- 
cording to  the  measure  of  each.  The  new 
nature  craves  this  holy  beauty,  and  loves  it 
155 


10  MY  BROTHER. 

•wherever  descried.  This  is  the  chief  source  of 
Christian  attachment.  It  is  the  affection  for 
Christ,  as  mirrored  in  his  members.  "We  hang 
with  interest  over  the  miniature  of  one  who 
is  beloved ;  and  we  value  the  living  portrait 
of  Jesus,  even  faintly  drawn  on  the  tablet  of 
a  fellow -saint.  Christian  love  is  determined 
to  be  such,  when  the  attraction  is  something 
spiritual,  and  not  any  thing  adventitious  and 
earthly.  The  statement  is  simple,  and  can 
not  now  be  dwelt  on,  but  it  is  matter  for  re- 
flection, and  might  penetrate  the  conscience, 
and  reveal  us  to  ourselves.  It  is  obvious  that, 
on  this  ground,  a  general  increase  of  piety 
throughout  the  Church,  or  any  part  of  it,  will 
directly  tend  to  the  growth  of  mutual  affection. 
That  which  is  most  for  a  lamentation  is,  that 
we  bear  so  little  of  Christ's  image,  as  to  hold 
out  scarcely  any  thing  on  which  the  strong 
regard  of  brother  Christians  can  fasten.  And 
this  affords  another  motive  for  growth  in 
grace.  Yet  we  must  not,  on  this  account,  ex- 
cuse ourselves  from  the  great  social  duty  of  our 
profession,  nor  indulge  a  censorious  turn  for 
detecting  blemishes  in  our  neighbor,  as  a  rea- 
son for  our  own  churlish  apathy.  Let  it  suf- 
fice that  Christ  receives  a  brother;  let  us 
156 


MY  BROTHER.  11 

beware  how  we  reject  him.  None  will  affirm 
that  all  holiness  has  vanished  from  the  Church ; 
and  wherever  it  is,  even  in  the  slightest  de- 
grees, and  with  the  greatest  admixture,  it 
ought  to  be  amiable  in  our  eyes.  We  should 
search  for  it,  cherish  it,  and  admire  it.  He 
who  is  inhabited  bj  the  Spirit  can  not  be  an 
object  of  indifference  to  the  spiritual  man.  It 
is  beautifully  related  of  Origen,  a  great 
Christian  author  among  the  Greeks,  that 
while  he  was  yet  an  infant,  his  father  used 
sometimes  to  approach  his  cradle,  and  uncov- 
ering his  little  bosom,  would  kiss  it,  saying, 
^'  Here  is  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Grhost ! "  Some- 
what similar  should  be  our  reverence  for  the 
work  of  Grod  in  every  human  soul.  We  should 
feel  a  profound  awe  in  regard  to  that  secret 
energy  which  goes  forward  in  all  saints.  And 
wherever  we  discover  the  slightest  lineament 
of  our  beloved  Lord,  we  should  be  attracted, 
and  won  over.  0  that  the  day  were  come, 
when  each  of  us  might  see  in  every  other  the 
infallible  marks  of  that  new  life,  ''which 
after  God  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true 
holiness !" 

5.  The  love  of  brethren  is  peculiarly  becom- 
ing to  those  ivho  expect  to  share  the  blessings  of  the 
157 


12  3rY  BROTHER. 

future  world.  In  the  way  of  similitude  or 
parable,  we  might  represent  to  ourselves  a 
company  of  persons  fighting  their  passage 
through  an  enemy's  country  to  their  beloved 
home.  Could  any  thing  be  more  natural  than 
that  they  should  cling  to  one  another  ?  The 
Christians  of  the  present  state  are  to  be" 
gathered  in  one  glorious  community,  in  that 
which  is  coming.  Unless  we  have  persuaded 
ourselves  of  the  eventual  salvation  of  all 
mankind,  we  know  that  from  all  but  true 
Christians,  there  must  be  a  final  separation. 
Those  who  shall  be  our  companions  forever, 
may  reasonably  engage  our  affections  now. 
On  this  point,  as  on  all  that  respects  the  future 
glory,  there  is  a  sad  skepticism  among  the 
professed  followers  of  Christ.  If  we  had 
more  lively  apprehensions  of  that  state  towards 
which  we  are  tending,  we  should  conform 
ourselves  to  it  in  affection  and  life.  The 
brotherhood  of  Christ's  people  would  so  grow 
in  our  estimation,  that  we  should  never  be- 
come weary  of  cultivating  their  friendship, 
and  enjoying  their  society. 


158 


SING   PRAISES  ! 


How  joyfully  does  David  cry,  "  Sing 
praises  to  Grod,  sing  praises  ;  sing  praises  unto 
our  King,  sing  praises  ;  for  God  is  tlie  King  of 
all  the  earth,  sing  ye  praises  with  understand- 
ing."^ Be  exhorted,  beloved  brethren  in 
Christ,  during  this  season  of  gracious  revival, 
to  employ  God's  appointed  method  of  psalm- 
ody, for  setting  forth  the  glory  of  his  name, 
power  and  love.  It  may  be  a  question  whether, 
in  the  reception  of  such  gifts,  our  silence  has 
not  been  guilty. 

I.  Sing  Peaises.  Praise  does  not  add  to 
God's  glory,  but  it  glorifies  him.  "  He  that 
offereth  praise,  glorifieth  me,"  saith  the  Lord  of 
Hosts.  To  show  forth  the  honor  of  his  majesty 
and  his  love  in  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  chief  bur- 
den of  Christian  song. 

n.  Sing  to  God  and  Cheist.  The  two 
are  not  separate.      Behold  God  in   Christ; 

1  Psalm  47  •  6,  7. 
159 


4  SING  PRAISES  I 

praise  God  tlirougli  Christ.  The  soul  looks 
out  in  this  particular  direction  in  praise.  It 
is  God  and  not  man,  who  is  generally  ad- 
dressed. PJinj  writes  to  Trajan,  that  early 
Christians  used  to  "to  sing  hymns  to  Christ, 
as  God." 

in.  Sing  of  Grace  and  Glory.  You  have 
noble  themes,  and  enough  to  carry  you  up  in 
song.  The  Church  in  all  ages  has  had  the 
same,  and  has  celebrated  them ;  but  every  new 
display  of  condescending  love,  and  every  new 
effusion  of  the  Spirit,  shoTild  lift  and  gather 
more  sublime  praises.  If  you  have  been  con- 
verted, if  your  friends  have  been  converted, 
then  sing  of  grace  and  power. 

lY.  Sing  in  the  great  Congregation. 
The  swell  of  a  thousand  voices  is  magnificent ; 
and  where  they  utter  the  high  praises  of  God 
with  the  heart  and  soul,  it  is  "the  beauty  of 
holiness."  Even  short  of  this,  it  is  delightful, 
elevating,  and  edifying,  to  join  with  many 
voices.  Let  not  yours  be  silent.  The  great 
meetings  for  prayer  and  praise,  during  this  re- 
vival, are  tending  to  restore  to  the  churches 
the  joint  and  mighty  praises  of  congregational 
psalmody.  "  Let  every  thing  that  hath  breath 
praise  the  L)rd  I" 

160 


SING  praises!  5 

V .  Sing  in  the  Meeting  of  BRErHREN. 
Whetlier  the  gathering  be  small  or  great, 
"  sing  ye  praises."  Why  not  have  meetings 
for  praise,  as  well  as  meetings  for  prayer  f 
The  Hebrew  Church  sang  ;  the  Temple  wor- 
shippers sang,  the  Lord  Jesus  sang} 

YI.  Sing  in  the  Social  Group.  Young 
Christians  should  begin  to  learn  this  method 
of  helping  one  another  and  honoring  Christ. 
In  the  days  of  our  ignorance  how  often  have 
we  prostituted  our  voices  to  worldly  songs ; 
and  have  we  no  praises  at  the  fireside  for  our 
Eedeemer  ?  Henry  Martyn  was  noted  for 
this  way  of  doing  good.  "  He  had  an  un- 
commonly fine  voice,  and  fine  ear  ;"  says  Mrs. 
Sherwood,  who  knew  him  in  India;  "he 
could  sing  many  fine  chants,  and  a  vast  vari- 
ety of  hymns  and  psalms.  He  would  insist 
upon  it  that  I  should  sing  with  him,  and  he 
taught  me  many  tunes,  all  of  which  were  af- 
terwards brought  into  requisition  ;  and,  when 
fatigued  himself,  would  make  me  sit  by  his 
couch  and  practise  these  hymns."  If  any 
think  of  EiCHARD  Baxter  as  stem,  let  them 
read  these  words  of  his :  "  It  was  not  the  least 


1  Matt.  26  :  30. 
161 


6  SING  PRAISES  ! 

comfort  that  I  had  in  the  converse  of  m j  late 
dear  wife,  that  our  first  exercise  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  the  last  in  bed  at  night,  was  a  psalm 
of  praise,  till  the  hearing  of  others  interrupted 
it.  Let  those  who  savor  not  melody  leave 
others  to  their  different  appetites,  and  be  con- 
tent to  be  so  far  strangers  to  their  delights." 

yn.  SixG  IN  Family  Worship.  Take 
time  for  it.  Eob  yourself  of  ten-  minutes* 
slumber,  or  of  ten  morsels  of  food,  but  rob 
not  God  of  his  praise.  The  family  is  the 
school  of  praise,  as  well  as  of  prayer  and  doc- 
trine. 

YIII.  Sing  in  Private  Devotion.  Why 
not  ?  The  voice  comes  back  with  effect  upon 
the  heart.  Solitude  has  witnessed  your  utter- 
ance of  love-songs,  comic-songs,  idle,  foolish 
songs ;  why  should  you  not  sing  forth  your 
love  to  Jesus  ?  The  whole  book  of  Psalms 
may  be  profitably  chanted  in  the  closet,  even 
by  one  who  boasts  no  musical  culture. 

IX.  Sing  when  the  Soul  is  joyful. 
Psalmody  is  the  appointed  channel  for  the 
outlet  and  utterance  of  joy.  "  Is  any  merry," 
says  the  Apostle  James,  "  let  him  sing  psalms." 
When  young  converts  meet  together,  they  are 
sometimes  liable  to  fall  into  light  and  unpro- 
162 


SING  PRAISES  I  7 

fitable  talk ;  nothing  is  better  suited  to  pre- 
vent this,  and  otherwise  edify  their  souls,  than 
to  unite  in  spiritual  and  fervent  hymns. 

X.  Sing  amidst  the  Eevival  of  Keli- 
GION.  "  There  is  a  time  to  mOurn  and  a  time 
to  dance,"  that  is,  to  rejoice  in  God.  When 
should  the  children  of  the  bridechamber 
rejoice,  if  not  when  the'  Bridegroom  is  with 
them?  Now  it  is,  that  we  go  "  to  the  house 
of  God,  with  the  voice  of  joy  and  praise,  with 
the  multitude  that  keep  holy  day."  It  is  the 
joy  of  harvest.  There  is  joy  in  heaven,  over  re- 
pentant sinners ;  let  there  be  joy  on  earth ; 
and  let  it  have  its  rightful  expression  in  high 
praises.  The  lofty  anthem  of  united  hearts 
and  humbly  exultant  churches  should  now 
glorify  our  redeeming  God,  with  the  swell  of 
harmony. 

XI.  Sing  with  Intelligence  of  the 
Truth.  "  God  is  the  King;  sing  ye  praises 
with  understanding,"  cries  David  ;  which  Paul 
re-echoes  thus  :  "  I  will  sing  with  the  Spirit, 
I  will  sing  with  the  understanding  also." 
Psalmody  includes  instruction.  To  reject  all 
hymns  which  are  didactic,  were  to  reject  some 
of  the  noblest  inspired  hymns.  Thirteen 
psalms  have  for  their  title  Maschil,  that  is, 

163 


8  SING  praises! 

"didactic."  The  Divine  Word  flows  from 
mind  to  mind  in  fraternal  instruction  by  means 
of  psalmody.  "  Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell- 
in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom  ;  teaching  and  ad- 
Tnonishing  one  another  in  psalms  and  hymns 
and  spiritual  songs,  singing  with  grace  in  your 
hearts  to  the  Lord."^ 

XTT.  Sing  with  all  the  Heart.  Empty 
indeed  are  all  songs  and  praises  which  do  not 
carry  up  the  affections.  The  words  which 
holy  hymns  suggest  to  iis  do  often,  by  the  in- 
fluences of  the  Holy  Spirit,  produce  or  awaken 
the  very  graces  which  they  express.  But 
this  is  more  especially  done  by  the  influence 
of  melody  and  harmony,  and  the  electric  cur- 
rent to  and  from  numerous  worshippers.  Yet 
only  the  adorable  Spirit  of  God  can  preserve 
us  from  taking  mere  natural  elation  for  that 
"joy  of  the  Lord"  which  is  our  "  strength  !"^ 

Xin.  Sing  in  the  Church  below,  so 
that  you  may  sing  in  the  Church  above. 
When  we  think  of  heaven,  it  is  with  the  idea 
of  perfect  adoration,  love,  and  praise.  This 
glorious  outgoing  of  soul  expresses  itself  best 
in  song.  There,  in  the  world  of  perfection, 
"  they  sing  the  song  of  Moses,  the  servant  of 

i  Col.  3:  16.  2Xeh.  8  :  10. 

164 


SING  PRAISES  !  9 

God,  and  the  song  of  the  Lamb,  saying,  Great 
and  marvellous  are  thy  works.  Lord  God  Al- 
mighty; just  and  true  are  thy  ways,  thou 
King  of  saints."  The  ascriptions  of  rapt  souls, 
throughout  the  Apocalypse,  take  the  form  of 
musical  utterance.  Those  vocal  acclamations 
of  palm-bearing  and  harp-bearing  saints  must 
be  regarded  as  psalms,  songs,  hymns,  or  an- 
thems. Thus  must  we  judge  of  the  Four,  and 
the  Four-and-twenty.^  They  smg  a  "new 
song,"  saying,  "Thou  art  worthy,"  "for  thou 
wast  slain!"  The  subsequent  voice  of  the' 
"  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand,  and  thou- 
sands of  thousands,"  is  the  voice  of  song.  The 
angels,  and  elders,  and  four  living  ones,  who 
fall  before  the  throne  on  their  faces,  and  wor- 
ship God,  can  not  but  utter  the  voice  of  celes- 
tial psalmody  when  they  say :  "  Amen,  Bless- 
ing and  glory,  and  wisdom,  and  thanksgiving, 
and  honor,  and  power,  and  might,  be  unto 
God  forever  and  ever.    Amen." 

The  nearest  approach  which  we  can  make 
on  earth  to  the  joy  of  worship  in  heaven,  is 
when  we  unite  in  hymning  God  and  the 
Lamb.  Oh !  let  us  seek  to  engage  in  this  service 
with  heart  and  soul,  as  feeling  that  our  powers 

1  T.ev.  4:  S-12;  5:8. 
165 


10  SING  praises! 

nave  no  more  honorable  and  exalted  use,  than 
when  we  devote  them  to  the  praise  of  the 
Almighty  Eedeemer.  This,  we  believe,  is 
sometimes  felt  in  a  humble  measure,  during 
those  delightful  melting  seasons,  when  at  sacra- 
ments, or  the  concourse  of  thousands  to  hear 
the  Word,  or,  as  has  recently  been  the  case, 
in  prayer-meetings  of  unexampled  size,  the 
hearts  of  believers  experience  the  mysterious 
ardors  of  love,  and  rise  in  joy,  swelling  with 
high  praises,  for  the  gift  of  Jesus,  and  the  con- 
version of  multitudes  of  souls.  May  God 
grant  us  nearer  and  nearer  likeness  in  our 
worship  to  the  song  of  the  redeemed  I 


166 


SING  PRAISES  I  11 


Kev.  5 : 6. 

Behold  the  glories  of  the  Lamb, 
Amidst  his  Father's  throne, 

Prepare  new  honors  for  his  name, 
And  songs  before  imknown. 

Let  elders  worship  at  his  feet, 

The  Church  adore  around, 
"With  vials  full  of  odors  sweet. 

And  harps  of  sweeter  sound. 

Those  are  the  prayers  of  all  the  saints. 
And  these  the  hymns  they  raise ; 

Jesus  is  kind  to  our  complaints, 
He  loves  to  hear  our  praise. 

Eternal  Father,  who  shall  look 

Into  thy  secret  will  ? 
Who  but  the  Son  shall  take  that  book, 

And  open  every  seal  ? 

He  shall  fulfil  thy  great  decrees ; 

The  Son  deserves  it  well : 
Lo  1  in  his  hand  the  sovereign  keys 

Of  heaven,  and  death,  and  hell ! 

Now  to  the  Lamb  that  once  was  slain, 

Be  endless  blessings  paid : 
Salvation,  glory,  joy,  remain 

Forever  on  thy  head. 
167 


12  SING  praises! 

Thou  hast  redeemed  our  souls  with  blood, 
Hadt  set  the  prisoners  free, 

Hast  made  us  kings  and  priests  to  God, 
And  we  shall  reign  with  thee  1 

The  works  of  nature  and  of  grace 
Are  put  beneath  thy  power, 

Then  shorten  these  delaymg  days, 
And  bring  the  promised  hour. 


108 


THE    HARVEST   OF    NEW-YORK 


Theke  are  some  evils  wTiicli  belong  to  all 
great  cities  as  sucli.  The  vastness  of  popula- 
tion brings  ignorance  and  irreligion  into 
greater  proximity,  and  so  to  speak,  congests 
them  within  narrow  compass.  Hence  we  find 
poverty,  sickness,  sloth,  intemperance,  mendi- 
city, and  fraud,  on  a  larger  scale,  and  with 
less  surprise,  than  in  other  localities.  De- 
pravity is  the  same,  indeed,  "  in  the  void 
waste  or  in  the  city  full ;"  but  in  a  metropohs 
sin  is  more  crowded  and  more  overt.  The 
love  of  money,  which  is  a  root  of  all  evil, 
operates  more  actively  where  so  much  wealth 
is  in  perpetual,  large,  and  rapid  circulation. 
Cupidity,  fraud,  and  violence  exist  wherever 
man  is  found  ;  but  in  cities  they  have  a  wider 
field,  and  come  up  to  our  notice  every  day  of 
our  lives.  This  familiarity  with  evil  clearly 
tends  to  its  propagation.  It  is  just  as  true  of 
169 


2  THE  HARVEST  OF   NEW- YORK. 

vice  as  of  contagious  disease.  The  forced  and 
unnatural  nearness  of  man  to  man,  renders  it 
more  easy  for  evil  principles  and  practices  to 
diffuse  themselves,  by  precept  and  example. 
Crime  and  its  provocatives  are  kept  in  coun- 
tenance by  the  number  and  consequent  bold- 
ness of  transgressors.  The  same  density  of 
human  actors  renders  easy  every  sort  of  asso- 
ciated action  and  combination.  Idleness  and 
luxury  and  love  of  pleasure  are  evil  every 
where ;  but  who  does  not  know  how  violent 
a  stunulus  they  receive  in  cities  ?  For  ex- 
ample, the  wealth  and  voluptuousness  of  the 
great  are  continually  working  downwards, 
and  corrupting  the  humbler  classes.  No  man 
needs  to  go  in  search  of  means  of  intemper- 
ance ;  the  invitation  is  at  every  corner.  Few 
are  the  great  towns  in  which  the  example  of 
Sabbath  desecration  is  not  held  out,  almost 
ostentatiously,  thus  producing  its  like  in  the 
careless  and  the  young.  The  public  amuse- 
ments of  cities  are  not  rare  and  occasional ; 
their  flames  are  kept  up,  night  after  night,  as 
a  perpetual  sacrifice.  Their  invitations  arc 
blazoned  on  every  wall,  and  that  is  a  happy 
parent  who  can  keep  his  children  from 
coveting  the  forbidden  gratification,  almo-t 
170 


THE   HAEVEST  OF   NEW- YORK.  3 

before  they  have  left  the  nursery.  The  streets 
may  be  called  an^  ever-open  school  of  vice  ; 
and  there  are  hundreds  of  errant  children  of 
both  sexes,  whose  whole  education  may  be 
said  to  be  that  of  the  kennel.  It  is  in  cities 
that  we  naturally  go  to  look  for  the  extremes 
of  pauperism,  filth,  and  domestic  misery  ;  for 
cellars  and  garrets  unventilated,  unwashed, 
and  overstocked  with  human  inmates ;  for 
lofty  buildings,  swarming  at  each  new  flight 
with  improvident,  noisy,  unhealthy  creatures. 
Nowhere  but  in  cities  does  the  phenomenon 
occur,  of  scores,  hundreds,  thousands,  and  tens 
of  thousands,  who  seem  to  be  totally  unre- 
cognized out  of  their  narrow  circle,  who  live 
as  they  list,  and  who  sink  with  every  succes- 
sive year  into  a  more  malignant  corruption. 
In  London,  for  example,  the  recent  labors  of 
Mr.  Mayhew  have  revealed  what  may  be 
called  an  underground  population,  numbering 
its  hundreds  of  thousands,  of  whom  multitudes 
know  no  marriage-tie  ;  and  of  whom  the  great 
majority  attend  no  place  of  worship.  There 
would  seem  to  be  a  nation  growing  up  in  the 
heart  of  Christendom,  within  daily  sound  of  its 
church-bells,  utterly  destitute  of  the  first  rudi- 
ments of  Christian  instruction.  And  of  these 
171 


4  THE  HARVEST  OF  NEW-YORK. 

a  large  number,  already  mature  and  inveterate 
in  evil,  find  their  way  to  ^ur  shores,  and  to 
our  very  thresholds. 

It  is  truly  wonderful  how  many  comfort- 
able and  well-doing  persons  live  and  die  with 
scarcely  any  knowledge  of  these  things. 
They  sit  in  their  drawing-rooms,  or  roll  in 
their  coaches,  with  scarcely  a  thought  of  the 
masses  of  ignorance,  misery,  and  vice,  which 
are  almost  touching  them.  Amidst  purple, 
fine  linen,  and  daily  sumptuous  fare,  we  for- 
get the  Lazarus  at  our  gate,  who  is  chiefly  re- 
cognized by  the  dogs  that  lick  his  sores. 
These  things  are  in  all  populous  cities,  but 
men  of  comfort  see  it  not,  or  see  it  with  vacant 
and  abstracted  gaze.  To  learn  the  details  of 
this  frightful  reality,  citizens  must  begin  to 
observe  and  enumerate  the  squalid  creatures 
that  cross  their  path ;  must  diverge  into  shaded 
and  obstructed  streets  and  alleys;  must  follow 
the  mendicant  and  the  chifPonnier  to  his  attic 
or  his  hovel,  and  comprehend  the  nights  of 
those  who  lurk  about  our  thoroughfares  by 
day.  There  is  not  a  great  city  in  Christen- 
dom, in  which  it  is  not  true,  that  a  large  pro- 
portion of  these  classes  is  absolutely  uncared 
for,  in  regard  to  true  reli^-ion.  And  it  adds 
172 


THE  HAKVEST  OF  NEW-YORK.  5 

to  our  alarm,  that  we  need  not  go  so  far  down 
in  the  scale  of  society,  to  find  hundreds  who  are 
heathenish  in  their  repudiation  of  all  Christian 
observances,  on  Sabbaths  or  other  days.  All 
that  has  thus  been  said  of  cities  in  general, 
applies  with  full  force  to  the  city  of  our  abode ; 
while  there  are  other  considerations,  somewhat 
peculiar  to  ourselves,  which  point  us  out  as 
beyond  question  a  ripe  and  suffering  harvest- 
field. 

It  is  to  be  expected  that  the  largest  city  of 
the  Western  world  should  hold  forth  promi- 
nently those  characteristics  on  which  we  have 
touched.  Its  very  greatness  just  so  far  mul- 
tiplies the  occasions  for  religious  endeavor. 
We  begin  to  talk  again  and  truly  of  the  spring 
and  buoyancy  of  our  trade,  the  expansion  of  our 
commerce,  the  rise  of  property,  the  accumula- 
tions of  capital,  the  magnificence  of  dwellings 
and  equipage.  These  things  should  make  us 
humble  and  thankful.  But  what  if  these 
blessings  should  be  accompanied  with  increase 
of  sins  and  famine  of  the  word  of  God  ? 
Wealth  breeds  luxury,  pride,  and  forgetful- 
ness  of  the  things  of  eternity.  I  was  just  now 
speaking  of  the  poor;  but  here  are  causes 
which  operate  upon  the  rich,  and  in  some  cases 
173 


6  THE  HARVEST  OF  NEW-YORK. 

upon  ourselves.  Eead  what  the  propliecies 
say  of  great  cities  in  the  old  world ;  of  Tyre, 
of  Sidon,  and  of  Damascus.  In  a  very  ob- 
servable degree,  the  unparalleled  growth  of 
our  city  has  tended  to  moral  and  religious  de- 
cay, by  change  of  residence  and  rapid  fluctu- 
ation of  people.  We  appear  to  live  in  a  per- 
petual tide,  which  sweeps  away  in  its  course 
not  only  the  mansions  of  former  times,  but 
the  very  sanctuaries  where  our  fathers  wor- 
shipped. Justifiable,  nay,  inevitable,  as  these 
mutations  may  be,  they  can  not  be  accom- 
phshed  without  leaving  large  spaces  more  or 
less  destitute  of  the  means  of  grace.  And  al- 
ready the  whole  southern  portion  of  our  Island 
presents  a  spiritual  desolation,  which  affects 
the  hearts  of  God's  people,  and  in  regard  to 
which  every  one  of  us  has  a  responsibility 
and  an  obligation.  It  is  not  enough  that  we 
secure  the  means  of  grace  for  ourselves  and 
our  happy  children,  who  could  obtain  them 
even  if  suddenly  left  unsupplied;  what  is  to 
become  of  the  myriads  who  care  for  none  of 
these  things  ?  Shall  we  say  to  them,  from 
out  these  established  houses  of  worship,  '•  Go, 
serve  other  gods"  ?  Many  of  our  churches 
present  the  appearance  in  a  great  measure  of 
174 


THE   HARVEST  OF  NEW-YORK.  7 

repositories  for  sliQaves  already  garnered ;  while 
on  every  side  of  us  tlie  fields  are  covered  with 
luxuriant  crops,  which  no  husbandman  is  cut- 
ting down. 

The  influx  of  strangers  from  remote  regions, 
and  of  emigrants  from  abroad,  is  giving  a  pe- 
culiar character  to  our  city  population.  Gf 
these,  the  great  majority  are  without  evange- 
lical religious  means.  I  am  persuaded  that 
very  few  among  us  are  awake  to  the  trans- 
formation which  is  passing  upon  us,  from  this 
single  cause.  The  living  cargoes,  which  are 
poured  in  upon  us  day  by  day,  from  Ireland 
and  the  European  continent,  and  of  which  the 
worst  dregs  and  sediment  are  arrested  just 
here,  and  abide  among  us,  are  increasingly 
making  their  influence  felt,  on  our  manners, 
our  morals,  our  religion,  our  elections,  our 
municipal  government,  our  police  and  prisons, 
our  hospitals  and  our  bills  of  mortality.  We" 
are  in  the  midst  of  a  gradual  and  silent,  but 
tremendous  revolutionary  movement.  Of 
Grermans  alone,  the  accession  has  been  such, 
that  you  may  walk  through  whole  streets,  if 
not  wards,  in  which  their  type  and  signature 
stand  out  with  all  the  colors  of  transatlantic 
towns.  Eomish  churches,  convents,  and 
175 


8  THE   HARVEST  OF  NEW-YORK. 

schools  are  rising  with  incalculable  rapidity. 
A  nation  of  people  owning  spiritual,  if  not 
temporal  allegiance  to  a  sovereign  beyond  the 
seas,  is  consolidating  itself  in  the  midst  of  us. 
Kot  to  assault  or  abridge  their  religious  rights 
do  I  say  this,  but  to  indicate  the  greatness  of 
the  home-field,  which  calls  for  our  zealous  ex- 
ertions. But  we  are  not  sure  that  this  is  the 
worst  part  of  the  foreign  immigration.  Pro- 
testantism has  lost  its  glory  in  the  land  of 
Luther.  Those  subtle  but  dreadful  forms  of 
infidelity,  which  were  broached  by  philoso- 
phers in  their  closets  and  professors  in  their 
chairs,  became  popularized,  and  worked  their 
way  downward  through  the  strata  of  society, 
until  they  at  length  became  intelligible  to  the 
lowest  minds,  and  popular  among  the  turbu- 
lent rabble.  As  in  the  French  Eevolution,  so 
in  Germany,  these  doctrines  of  the  ''  Friends 
of  Light "  connected  themselves  with  a  passion 
for  liberty,  and  with  reformatory  agitation. 
Ever  since  the  outbreak  of  1848,  the  con- 
vulsed masses  have  been  heaving  with  equal 
violence  against  the  altar  and  the  throne.  In 
any  great  movement  towards  emigration,  it  is 
obvious  that  none  will  be  so  ready  to  forsake 
their  country,  as  those  who  after  entertaining 
17G 


THE  HARVEST  OF  NEW-YORK.  9 

STicli  sentiments  have  been  disappointed. 
Many  of  the  ringleaders  in  these  commotions 
have  reappeared  in  our  land. 

Turning  to  the  indigenous  population,  with 
which  we  are  more  familiar,  we  find  untold  mul- 
titudes of  the  laborious  as  well  as  the  unthrifty 
classes,  who  never  enter  a  place  of  worship. 
"We  find  a  juvenile  throng,  growing  up  with- 
out the  knowledge  of  morality  and  salvation. 
We  find  large  tracts  of  closely  settled  people, 
wholly  unsupplied  with  the  means  of  grace. 
And  here  I  may  let  the  curtain  fall ;  for  we 
have  observed  enough  to  demonstrate,  that  in 
whatsoever  direction  we  turn  our  eyes,  the 
fields  are  white  already  to  harvest. 

My  beloved  fellow-Christians,  the  theme  is 
too  grave,  and  the  affair  too  urgent,  for  me  to 
use  any  circuit  in  arriving  at  the  practical 
conclusion.  We  must  do  something,  and 
that  without  delay,  or  these  evils  will  increase 
beyond  our  power  of  control.  "  The  King's 
business  requireth  haste."  While  we  slumber 
the  enemy  is  coming  in  with  fearfal  strides. 
And  what  are  we  doing,  in  our  staid,  respect 
able,  and  wealthy  churches?  What  break- 
water are  we  erecting  against  such  a  flood  ? 
Are  we  meeting  the  demands  of  our  responsi- 
177 


10  THE  HAKVEST  OF  NEW-YOKK. 

bilitj,  of  OTir  very  safety,  by  maintaining  the 
proper  and  decorous  service  of  God  in  our 
several  sanctuaries  ?  No  man  will  pretend  it. 
Yast  harvests  require  extraordinary  and  im- 
mediate labor.  But  where  is  it  put  forth 
among  us  ?  At  what  point,  or  on  what  day 
have  the  united  Christians  of  New- York  arisen 
in  their  strength,  jealous  for  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
and  determined  to  carry  the  torch  of  light  in- 
to these  dark  places  ?  "Where  is  the  concerted 
effort  of  evangelical  laymen,  to  set  up  Gospel 
means  in  the  deserted  lower  wards  of  this 
city  ?  This  harvest  will  not  come  in  of  itself, 
but  must  perish  on  the  open  field.  To  meet 
this  exigency  is  our  appropriate  business  as 
Christian  churches.  Life  is  short;  and 
when  after  a  few  years  some  wanderer 
shall  pick  out  our  names,  upon  the  marbles 
of  a  cemetery,  what  traces  shall  we  have  left 
behind  us  of  our  zeal  for  Christ  and  souls  ? 
It  is  for  such  efforts,  and  such  self-denials,  and 
such  sacrifices,  that  God  has  bestowed  on  us 
our  talents,  our  influence,  and  our  means.  Let 
me  take  it  for  granted  without  argument  that 
the  Christian  Church  was  not  founded  solely 
for  itself,  and  for  promoting  its  own  spiritual 
comfort  and  advantage ;  and  further,  that 
178 


THE   HARVEST   OF   XEW-YORK.  11 

every  particular  clmrcli  is  called  upon  to  dif- 
fuse blessings  around  its  limited  circle.  This 
is  especially  true  of  churclies  which,  have  out- 
lived the  precarious  and  struggling  period  of 
existence.  There  is  a  stage  in  church-life, 
when  every  effort  is  needed  to  fill  up  its  va- 
cancies, sustain  its  service,  and  secure  its  con- 
tinuance. But  when  this  is  past,  and  provi- 
dence smiles  upon  its  temporalities,  assuredly 
it  has  arrived  at  the  crisis  of  outward  activity. 
The  genius  of  Christianity  is  not  simply  that 
of  conservation,  but  of  aggTession.  It  must 
not  merely  live,  but  increase  and  cover  the 
earth.  It  is  not  an  outpost  garrison,  fixed  and 
stationary  in  its  defenses  ;  but  an  army,  burn- 
ing for  conquest  and  going  on  by  rapid 
marches  and  increasing  victoiies.  And  this 
has  been  most  signally  manifest  in  every  age 
of  Church  history,  in  which  believers  have 
evinced  the  true  life  of  the  body.  Equally 
true  is  this  of  particular  churches.  They 
must  break  forth  in  action  and  increase,  or 
they  must  dwindle  and  die.  And  let  me  af- 
firm it  with  emotion,  when  any  religious  so- 
ciety has  reached  the  point  in  which  its  com- 
plement has  been  made  up,  its  forces  oi'gan- 
ized,  its  seats  filled,  and  when  accordingly  it 
179 


12  THE   HARVEST  OF  NEW- YORK. 

can  not  longer  hold  forth  wide  invitations  to 
the  multitudes  to  come  in,  the  conjuncture  is 
solemn,  I  had  almost  said  alarming.  ISTor  is  it 
matter  of  doubtful  speculation,  what  a  church 
in  such  circumstances  should  do.  It  should 
break  out  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left. 
It  should  enter  into  the  Lord's  harvest.  It 
should  go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges, 
and  compel  men  to  come  in.  It  should  have 
compassion  on  the  ignorant  and  the  outcast, 
who  surround  it.  It  should  provide  the 
means  of  grace  for  those  who  are  destitute. 
There  is  work  enough  to  be  done,  and  there 
are  means  to  do  it.  Let  me  add  with  pro- 
found satisfaction,  experience  has  shown 
in  New- York,  that  so  far  as  the  contribu- 
tion of  worldly  means  is  concerned,  there  has 
never  been  any  backwardness.  But  there  is 
a  want  of  enlightened  zeal,  as  to  the  special 
mark  of  evangelizing  the  suffering  population 
amidst  which  we  dwell.  And  there  is  a  want 
of  concert  and  cooperative  endeavor,  in  the  right 
application  of  instruments.  The  case  is  this : 
the  harvest  is  ripe,  but  the  laborers  are  few. 
The  Gospel  must  be  preached  by  more  voices 
among  the  ignorant  and  needy.  They  will 
not  supply  this  want  themselves,  but  will  in- 
180 


THE  HARVEST  OF  NEW- YORK.  13 

falliblj  go  from  bad  to  worse.  •  Here  our  in- 
tervention is  needed.  The  cliurcli  must  be 
carried  to  those  who  will  not  come  to  the 
church.  It  never  was  the  intention  of  Christ, 
that  his  word  should  be  sustained  among 
people  of  competency  alone.  Wher^  Christ- 
ianity is  vital,  the  poor  have  the  Gospel 
preached  unto  them.  A  wise  and  vigilant 
survey  must  descry  the  points  in  our  great 
city,  from  which  as  centres  the  assault  may 
best  be  made  on  the  forces  of  unrighteousness 
and  error.  The  message  of  life  must  at  such 
points  be  proclaimed  at  once ;  freely  at  first, 
until  men  shall  have  learnt  the  necessity,  the 
economy,  and  the  delight  of  sustaining  the 
church  for  themselves  and  their  children. 
One  such  station,  well  manned,  will  become 
the  ipoint  d''aip]}id  for  successful  operations  all 
around.  The  best  nucleus  for  a  church  is 
often  the  Sunday-school.  It  naturally  con- 
nects itself  first  with  smaller  meetings,  and 
then  with  the  services  of  the  Sabbath.  It 
may  be  new  to  many,  that  in  carrying  out  this 
simple  and  effective  plan,  the  greatest  difS.- 
culties  sometimes  insuperable  have  arisen 
from  the  want  of  a  'place  in  which  to  gather 
the  uninstructed  youth.  Scholars  teem,  in 
181 


1-i  THE   HARVEST  OF  NEW- YORK. 

our  overcrowded  tenements,  by  hundreds  and 
thousands.  Teachers,  upon  due  summons, 
are  not  found  altogether  wanting.  The  purse 
of  religious  beneficence  has  been  found  con- 
stantly open  to  every  well-judged  summons. 
And  yet  our  schools  have  been  known  to 
knock  in  vain  at  the  doors  of  every  sufficient- 
ly capacious  public  edifice.  Now,  I  desire  my 
readers  to  show  cause,  why  it  would  not  be 
a  proper  outlay  of  our  ample  means,  for 
liberal  Christians  to  secure  ground  before  it 
is  too  late,  and  erect  substantial  and  fitting 
edifices,  with  ample  apartments  for  Sunday- 
schools.  These  might  be  occupied,  during 
the  week,  by  good  schools,  in  which  the 
Bible  and  religious  doctrines  should  be  taught. 
They  would  resound  with  the  voice  of  prayer 
and  praise,  in  social  meetings,  to  which  the 
surrounding  poor  would  be  invited.  They 
would  imperceptibly  grow  into  places  of  Sab- 
bath-service, where  the  Gospel  should  be 
preached  to  the  perishing.  In  process  of  time 
they  would  be  organized,  and  perhaps  self- 
sustaining.  But  this  is  only  one  of  many 
means  which  might  be  employed.  That  some 
means  should  be  speedily  used,  is  as  clear  as 
day.     Let  us  pray  to  the  Lord  of  the  harvest, 

182 


THE   HAE7EST  OF  NEW- YORK.  15 

that  he  would  thrust  forth  laborers  into  his 
harvest.  But  while  we  pray,  let  us  not  for- 
get to  labor  ourselves.  The  times  are  favor- 
able for  Gospel  effort.  The  mighty  mass  is 
as  yet  unformed  and  ductile.  Souls  are  per- 
ishing every  hour.  The  evil  is  not  in  India 
or  Africa,  but  at  our  doors.  And  our  time 
of  action  is  very  soon  to  have  an  end. 


183 


COMPEL  THEM  TO  COME  IN. 


The  worst  and  vilest  may  be  saved. 
Miglitj  awakenings  do  not  stop  short  of  the 
leprous  and  abandoned  sinner.  "When  the 
Master  of  the  house  was  angry,  because  all 
his  invited  guests  began  to  make  excuse,  and 
refused  to  come  to  the  Great  Supper,  though 
all  things  were  ready,  he  thus  gave  orders 
to  his  servant :  ''  Gro  out  quickly  into  the 
streets  and  lanes  of  the  city,  and  bring  in 
hither  the  poor,  and  the  maimed,  and  the  halt, 
and  the  bhnd."  As  this  was  not  enough,  he 
gave  a  second  order :  "Go  out  into  the  high- 
ways and  hedges,  and  compel  them  to  come 
IN,  that  my  house  may  be  filled."^  "Who  are 
these  but  the  extremest  outcast  sinners? 
Such  abound  in  our  city,  and  perish  for  want 
of  Christ. 


'  Luke  14  :  23. 
184 


COMPEL  THEir  TO   COME  IN. 

There  is  in  grace  a  wonderful  power  of 
growth,  which,  under  Grod,  is  our  hope  in  re- 
gard to  society.  It  is  salt,  it  is  leaven,  it  is 
seed,  it  is  light ;  these  are  Scriptural  figures, 
all  importing  diffusion.  In  revivals  of  reli- 
gion we  observe  this  very  remarkably  exem- 
plified. From  one  individual,  we  see  the 
spark  kindling  upon  a  whole  family,  and  from 
one  family,  reaching  a  church  or  neighbor- 
hood. But  what  we  desire  to  witness,  and 
what  we  should  pray  for,  is,  that  Christianity 
in  its  vital  power  should  reach  far  and  deeply 
into  the  worst  layers  of  society.  0  brethren  I 
what  must  become  of  these  self-destroying 
masses,  unless  they  receive  the  truth ! 

"When  the  Lord  Jesus  was  engaged  in  his 
ministry  on  earth,  he  did  not  limit  his  regards 
to  those  who  call  themselves  the  better  classes. 
*'The  common  people  heard  him  gladly." 
Eemark  was  often  made  upon  his  tolerance 
of  the  wicked :  "  This  man  receiveth  sinners 
and  eateth  with  them."  He  was  a  '^friend  of 
publicans  and  sinners."  Of  the  multitudes 
who  went  out  after  him,  thousands  were 
doubtless  poor,  and  thousands  were  blind  and 
vicious.  Sons  of  affliction  and  daughters  of 
infamy  heard  his  gracious  words.  People  of 
185 


COMPEL   TilEM   TO   COME   IN. 

til  is  sort  have  not  only  sense  of  misery  but 
consciousness  of  guilt.  They  are  often  stung 
and  lashed  by  remorse.  In  a  sort  of  despera- 
tion they  sometimes  cry  to  God.  They  are 
frequently  more  ready  to  be  impressed  by 
the  glad  tidings  than  church-going  formalists. 
Jesus  spake  to  their  hearts,  and  his  gospel  is 
still  suited  to  such.  In  the  great  awakenings 
under  Wesley  and  "Whitefield,  there  was 
nothing  more,  remarkable  than  the  degree  in 
which  the  Gospel  was  carried  home  with 
power  to  the  souls  of  the  very  lowest.  "  My 
rule,"  said  John  Wesley,  "  is  to  go  not  only  to 
those  who  need  me,  but  to  those  who  need  me 
most."  The  wretchedness  which  drove  peo- 
ple to  Christ  was  not  altogether  spiritual  in 
the  first  instance,  though  in  the  Divine  provi- 
dence it  had  spiritual  consequences.  He  who 
came  for  loaves  and  fishes  found  the  bread  of 
life ;  she  who  brought  her  vessel  to  the  well 
of  Sychar,  received  living  water.  So  now, 
the  sullen  anguish  of  poverty,  discontent,  and 
disease,  in  cellars,  garrets,  and  over-crowded 
and  pestilential  tenements,  engenders  longings 
which  only  the  Gospel  can  gratify.  Alas ! 
alas !  how  slender  are  the  means  as  yet  em- 
ployed for  carrying  the  Gospel  to  these  ex- 

isa 


COMPEL  THEM  TO   COME   IN. 

treme  points  I  Yet  to  these  very  points  tlie 
Gospel  may  be  carried  with  the  best  hopes  of 
success.  It  were  a  dangerous  error  to  pre- 
sume that  the  inmates  even  of  the  odious  re- 
sorts, noted  and  watched  by  the  police,  are 
necessarily  devoid  of  thoughts  about  religion, 
and  gnawing  though  vague  consciousness  of 
sin.  Could  we  unroof  dense  portions  of  this 
great  city,  and  look  into  the  dens  of  drink,  and 
play,  and  debauchery,  we  should  behold  the 
undeniable  signs  of  wounded  spirits,  without 
hope,  without  God.  The  Gospel  is  made  for 
such,  and  has  saved  such.  Amidst  the  re- 
iterated and  increasing  prayers  which  go  up 
for  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  surely  there 
ought  to  be  importunate  supplicatioti  for  in- 
fluences to  penetrate  these  lowest  strata. 
Awakening  is  incomplete  unless  it  go  deeper, 
far  deeper  down,  than  our  well-dressed- 
throngs.  Blessed  be  God,  that  these  have 
the  privilege  ;  but  oh  !  we  crave  it  for  the  ab- 
ject and  abandoned.  ISTor  will  the  victorious 
progress  be  complete  till  it  reach  the  felon,  the 
drunkard,  and  the  '  strange  woman.'  In  re- 
gard to  these  dangerous  and  desperate  classes, 
a  voice  seems  to  issue  from  the  holy  place : 


18V 


COMPEL  THEM  TO  COME  IN. 

*'  Whom  shall  we  send,  and  who  will  go  for 
lis?" 

Although  places  of  instruction  and  worship 
are  greatly  needed  for  the  miserable  and  vi- 
cious, and  although  all  wealthy  Christians 
should  feel  guilty  until  such  be  established,  it 
is  not  enough  to  provide  these  means.  Expe- 
rience proves  that  good  houses  may  remain 
empty,  and  able  preachers  unheard.  We  need 
a  shock,  to  rouse  these  benumbed  souls ;  an 
impulse,  to  urge  them  toward  inquiry;  a 
mighty  drawing,  to  bring  them  to  the  Word. 
Their  chief  want  is  that  of  interest,  awaken- 
ing, motive  ;  something  to  make  them  go  to 
church,  and  care  for  their  own  souls.  Popu- 
lar reformations,  under  the  truth,  have  this 
effect  in  some  measure.  Indeed  we  can  think 
of  nothing  more  likely  to  compel  the  atten- 
tion of  base,  violent,  and  blasphemous  men 
and  women,  than  a  mighty  tide  of  revival, 
pressing  its  repeated  waves  into  their  misera- 
ble homes  and  hearts.  Bad  influences  are 
propagated  thus,  why  not  good  influences? 
All  throuQjh  the  "electric  circle  of  a  certain 
class,^  one  hour  will  suffice  to  thrill  the  morbid 
passionate  excitement  of  a  prize-fight,  a  mur- 
der, or  a  rising  mob ;  why  should  not  the 
188 


COMPEL  THEM  TO   COME   IN. 

same  human  conductors  bear  such,  impulses 
as  have  driven  multitudes  to  hear  a  Luther, 
a  "Whitefield,  or  a  Spurgeon?  Would 
to  God  that  we  could  see  the  day  in  which 
the  messages  of  salvation  and  the  meeting  for 
prayer  should  be  crowded  by  the  very  class 
who  now  fill  drinking-shops,  dance-houses, 
caverns  of  lawless  pleasure,  and  jails  !  Noth- 
ing will  effect  this  but  great  unexampled 
awakening ;  and  for  this  we  are  to  pray.  If 
we  carefully  read  what  our  blessed  Lord 
spake  in  parable  concerning  the  two  sons,  we 
shall  see  that  these  are  the  people  who  not 
only  need  the  truth,  but  who  are  accessible  to 
its  power.  "Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Yerily  I 
say  unto  you.  That  the  publicans  and  harlots 
go  into  the  kingdom  of  God  before  you"^ 

When  in  so  remarkable  a  manner  God  is 
displaying  his  readiness  to  convert  great  num- 
bers to  himself,  all  who  fear  his  name  and 
love  the  souls  of  men,  ought  to  be  prostrate 
before  him,  in  beseeching  cries,  that  he  would 
vouchsafe  to  urge  the  work  of  grace  more 
widely  and  profoundly  through  the  depraved 
multitude.     As  certainly  as  faith   and  love 

iMalt.  21  :  28-32. 
180 


COMPEL  THEM  TO   COME  IN. 

beget  prayer,  so  certainly  will  prayer  beget 
action  ;  and  means  will  be  used  to  evangelize 
the  lowest  and  vilest.  Means  are  already  at- 
tempted, but  they  will  be  better  sustained. 
The  blind  and  vicious,  from  whose  ranks  the 
levies  are  made  for  riots  and  prisons,  will  not 
flock  to  the  preached  "Word,  until  some  fresh 
and  irresistible  influence,  affecting  the  whole 
population,  find  its  way  to  the  very  scenes  of 
their  nocturnal  orgies.  Prayer  for  such  an 
influence  is  clearly  laid  before  us  as  a  duty. 
While  we  pray  we  must  work.  These  child- 
ren of  the  wicked  one  will  not  come  to  the 
light ;  it  must  be  carried  to  them.  By  terri- 
torial division ;  by  canton^  of  labor  not  too 
large  to  be  manageable;  by  turning  on  a 
force  of  godly  men  and  women  large  enough 
to  visit  with  frequency ;  by  making  the  effort 
in  concert  and  exhaustively,  so  as  to  leave  no 
nook  or  corner  untouched ;  and  by  giving  to 
the  miserable  some  tidings  of  that  rich  gospel 
feast  which  awaits  their  acceptance,  we  shall 
instrumentally  "compel  them  to  come  in." 
Unbelief  as  to  the  power  and  willingness 
of  God  to  do  this,  is  at  the  bottom  of  all  our 
neglect  and  wrong  action  in  this  matter.  If 
for  a  moment  we  fancy  such  an  event  as  the 
190 


COMPEL  THEM  TO   COME  IN. 

conversion  of  our  degraded  and  dangerous 
classes,  the  incredulous  principle  replies : 
"Behold,  if  the  Lord  would  make  windows 
in  heaven,  might  this  thing  be  ?"^  An  awa- 
kening which  should  shake  the  dry  bones  in  all 
the  lowest  populations,  rousing  them  from 
filth  and  drunkenness,  and  raising  up  an  ex- 
ceeding great  army  to  fight  the  good  fight  of 
faith,  is  more  than  we  dare  ask  of  God. 
And  yet,  brethren,  it  is  not  more  than  we 
may  reasonably  expect  on  Scriptural  grounds, 
nor  more  than  the  eyes  of  the  Church  shall 
joyfully  see,  in  the  day  when,  by  the  Spirit, 
she  shall  rise  to  the  height  of  faith  and  en- 
treaty. Such  a  glory  will  be  like  that  in  re- 
spect to  which  the  Lord  comforts  Zion  in  pre- 
diction: ''Light  up  thine  eyes  round  about, 
and  behold:  all  these  gather  themselves  to- 
gether and  come  to  thee.  As  I  live,  saith  the 
Lord;  thou  shalt  surely  clothe  thee  with  them 
all,  as  with  an  ornapient,  and  bind  them  on 
thee,  as  a  bride  doth."^ 

1  2  Kiii-s  '7:2.  2  jgaiah  49  :  18. 


191 


COMPEL  THEM   TO   COME   IN. 


THE  PENITENT'S   HYMN   TO   CHRIST. 

My  Saviour,  canst  thou  welcome  back 
A  wanderer  gone  so  far  astray — 

Whose  heart  ten  thousand  terrors  rack, 
Ten  thousand  sins  to  wrath  betray? 

Fain  would  I  come,  fain  would  I  fly 

To  lay  my  burden  at  thy  feet ; 
And  in  abasement  ever  lie 

Tearful  before  thy  mercy-seat. 

But  feebleness  and  guilt  and  shame 
Restrain  me,  and  I  sink  oppressed  : 

There  is  no  favor  I  can  claim. 
No  place  in  Jesus'  spotless  breast. 

Thus  do  I  tremble,  yet  once  more 
My  flowing  eye  looks  up  and  sees 

The  griefs  thy  sacred  body  bore, 
Thy  scars,  and  blood,  and  agonies. 

"  Ah!  not  for  me,  these  pains  were  borne  !'* 

Such  is  the  guilty  spirit's  cry  : 
"  Ah !  not  for  me  /"  the  soul  forlorn 

Reiterates  with  many  a  sigh. 

For  thee!  lost  sinner,  yes,  for  thee! 

Such  answer  from  that  marred  face  : 
For  thee,  though  sunken  in  guilt's  sea, 

This  sacrifice  hath  purchased  grace. 
192 


COMPEL  THEM  TO  COME  IN. 

All  crimsoned  over  with  thy  sin, 
Welcome,  lost  sinner,  welcome  now  ; 

These  arms  were  spread  to  take  thee  in, 
This  head  for  thee  in  death  did  bow 

Melted  by  love,  by  pity  won, 
I  yield  me.  Saviour,  to  thy  love, 

The  streams  that  from  thy  heart  have  run 
Shall  every  spot  of  guilt  remove. 


193 


HELP  THE  SEAMAK 


We  read,  "And  tlie  sea  gave  up  the  dead 
which  were  in  it." 

I.  Consider  the  number  of  the  dead  who 
are  in  the  sea.  Both  the  small  and  the  great 
are  there.  From  remote  ages  it  has  been  the 
receptacle  of  mortal  bodies.  Keflect  on  the 
whole  generation  which  sank  like  lead  in  the 
mighty  waters,  when  the  fountains  of  the 
great  deep  were  broken  up,  and  the  flood- 
gates of  heaven  were  opened,  and  all  the  high 
hills  that  were  under  the  whole  heaven  were 
covered ;  and  every  living  substance  was  de- 
stroyed which  was  upon  the  face  of  the 
ground.  These  millions  shall  yet  be  given 
up.  The  early  navigation  of  the  renewed 
earth  did  but  fill  the  devouring  chasm  of  seas 
and  oceans.  K  the  commerce  of  that  day  was 
less  adventurous  and  large,  it  was  more  full 
of  peril.  "Without  our  compass  or  our  science, 
the  daring  sailors  of  olden  time  threw  away 
their  lives  more  lavishly.  The  Eoman  poet 
104 


HELP  THE  SEAMAN. 

had  reason  to  exclaim  at  tlie  temerity  of  him 
who  first  trusted  himself  to  a  perishable  plank. 
The  ships  of  Tarshish  went  down  by  thou- 
sands. The  early  Phoenician  navigators  add- 
ed hosts  of  corpses  to  the  ocean  cemetery. 

The  Mediterranean,  or  Great  Sea,  was  the 
chief  field  of  ancient  seamanship,  and  its 
waters  were  an  ever-gaping  sepulchre.  Age 
after  age  beheld  a  large  portion  of  mankind 
consigned  to  these  depths.  Dreadful  as  it  is 
to  be  suffocated  in  the  tempestuous  waves,  no 
single  mode  of  death  has  had  so  many  tri- 
umphs. To  this  must  be  added  the  vast  fleets 
of  warring  nations,  which  were  dashed  to- 
gether in  battles,  and  driven  asunder  by 
storms  ;  as  in  the  conflict  between  Xerxes 
and  the  Grreeks,  in  which  hundreds  of  vessels 
were  destroyed.  But  it  is  to  modern  naviga- 
tion and  commerce  that  the  destructive  ele- 
ment has  looked  for  its  most  numerous  vic- 
tims. The  seamen  of  the  world  of  Christian 
nations  are  reckoned  at  more  than  two  mil- 
lions. The  perils  of  human  life  are  made  the 
subject  of  accurate  calculation ;  and  those 
who  are  familiar  with  life-annuities  know 
that,  while  ship-masters  are  allowed  to  insure 
at  a  double  rate,  common  seamen  are  not 
195 


HELP  THE  SEAMAN. 


allowed  to  insure  at  all.  This  significant  fact 
affords  a  glimpse  of  the  fatality  which  is  at- 
tributed to  the  calling.  Some  have  believed 
that  the  majority  of  sea-faring  men  die  upon 
the  waters.  Scarcely  a  day  passes  without 
its  loss;  and  our  shipping-lists  are  records  of 
disaster.  It  is  not  merely  by  dozens,  or  by 
scores,  but  sometimes  by  hundreds,  that  the 
remains  are  swallowed  up;  as  when  some 
lordly  Indiaman  goes  down  in  the  mid  ocean. 
Perhaps  this  moment  witnesses,  amidst  dark- 
ness and  tumult,  the  cry  of  expiring  agony. 
Thus,  year  after  year,  and  century  after  cen- 
tury, the  ocean  has  been  receiving  its  tribute 
of  corpses  by  thousands  and  by  millions,  until 
the  great  basins  of  the  earth  have  become  the 
receptacles  of  a  large  portion  of  those  who 
have  lived.  The  consideration  of  their  nmn- 
her  then  should  awaken  our  interest  in  those 
who  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships ;  for  each  of 
the  dead  has  an  immortal  destiny,  and  every 
such  soul  cries  to  us  to  be  in  earnest,  in  ex- 
pectation of  that  day  when  the  sea  shall  give 
up  the  dead  which  are  in  it.  It  will  give 
them  up,  in  overwhelming  magnitude  of 
array,  at  the  inevitable  summons. 


19G 


HELP  THE   SEAMAN. 

11.   Consider  the  manner  of  death  which 
befalls  those  ivho  are  in  the  sea. 

Those  corpses,  ancient  or  recent,  floating  or 
at  rest,  whole  or  dismembered,  and  even  dis- 
solved to  atoms,  are  now  motionless.  Bnt 
they  each  went  down  with  a  separate  gasp 
and  struggle.  Each  wrestled  with  the  gi- 
gantic element ;  each  cried  out  in  the  impo- 
tent shriek  for  help.  It  is  not  to  appall  the 
imagination  that  this  harrowing  picture  is 
presented.  It  is  to  call  on  you  for  Christian 
provision  against  such  a  death.  Benevolence 
labors,  in  Gospel  lands,  to  prepare  men  for 
the  awfal  hour  of  departure,  even  though 
hoping  it  may  take  place  in  the  arms  of 
friends,  upon  beds  of  ease,  perhaps  with  lin- 
gering succession  of  warnings.  And  shall  we 
have  no  kind  forecast  for  the  hour  when  the 
mariner  is  summoned,  all  at  once,  to  his  cold 
death-struggle  ?  For  here  is  death  in  a  form 
which  demands  great  grace  for  its  support. 
Against  such  terrors,  there  should  be  the  pro- 
vision of  unusual  faith  and  trust.  No  princi- 
ples of  religion  can  be  too  strong  for  a  shock 
so  tremendous.  The  call  is  usually  sudden. 
It  is  alarming.  It  comes  amidst  confusion, 
uproar,  hunied  exertion,  desperate  struggles 
197 


HELP  THE   SEAMAN. 

for  safety.  K  a  multitude  suJBfer  together 
their  faces  do  but  reflect  blackness  on  each, 
other,  and  society  here  affords  no  solace. 
Who  has  not  read  of  the  frenzy  of  such  an 
hour,  or  (horrible  to  relate)  of  the  rush  of 
dying  men,  in  the  mania  of  hopelessness,  to 
Ijie  spirit-room  ?  If^  on  the  other  hand,  the 
solitary  wretch,  exhausted  and  no  longer 
clinging  to  his  plank,  clenches  his  powerless 
hands  and  sinks  into  his  dark,  cold,  lonely 
depths,  he  needs  not  less  the  inward  breath- 
ing of  hope  in  Christ,  when  far  from  every 
voice,  of  mother,  sister,  or  pastor,  that  ever 
whispered  to  him  of  salvation.  Who  in  such 
a  juncture  can  hope  that  the  careless  and  it 
may  be  profligate  one  shall  be  able  to  gather 
his  broken  thoughts  sufficiently  to  regard  the 
object  of  faith  ?  It  is  too  late  in  such  a  mo- 
ment of  horror  to  collect  the  fragments  of  a 
neglected  or  forgotten  creed.  We  speak  often 
of  the  doubtfulness  of  such  repentance  as  oc- 
curs on  a  death-led;  but  what  shall  we  say  of 
a  departure  in  the  paroxysms  of  the  strang- 
ling tempestuous  sea !  The  fear,  the  delirium, 
the  pain,  of  this-  crisis  may  even  obliterate 
every  thought  of  mercy.  Let  me  then,  by  all 
the  dreadful  pangs  that  hover  over  the  manner 
198 


HELP  THE  SEAMAN. 

of  this  death,  beseech  you  to  lose  no  time  in 
seeking  to  prepare  for  "heaven  him  who  may 
be  thus  summoned.  For  how  unspeakably 
glorious  the  privilege  of  him,  who,  howsoever 
sudden  his  last  alarm,  can  serenely,  even 
when  all  human  hope  is  gone,  fold  his  arms, 
and  raise  his  dying  eyes,  and  from  amidst  the 
very  gulf  exclaim :  "I  know  whom  I  have 
believed— 0  death!  where  is  thy  sting?  0 
SEA  I  where  is  thy  victory?"  Among  con- 
verted seamen  there  have  been  many  such. 
Their  number,  we  trust,  is  daily  increasing, 
by  means  of  Christian  exertions.  Such  we 
doubt  not  are  in  our  port.  Nay,  such  may 
be  among  the  readers  of  this  page.  And  it  is 
to  provide  against  a  trial  so  common,  and 
yet  so  fearful,  that  our  efforts  should  be  di- 
rected. For  when  the  sea  shall  give  up  its 
dead,  the  difference  will  be  marked,  between 
those  who  have  been  driven  away  in  their 
wickedness,  by  the  storm  that  wrecked  their 
hopes,  and  those  who  have  had  hope  in  their 
death;  even  though  that  death  was  in  Jjie 
surges  of  seeming  destruction.  Let  the  man- 
ner of  this  death,  conjoined  with  its  innum- 
erable subjects,  call  you  to  new  exertions  for 
the  soul  of  the  mariner. 
199 


HELP  THE  SEAMAN. 

m.  Consider  the  CHARACTER  of  those  who 
hecome  the  dead  of  the  sea. 

If  these  were  all  men  of  God,  neither  their 
number  nor  their  mode  of  departure  would 
demand  our  intense  sympathy.  However  the 
silver  cord  might  be  loosed,  or  the  golden 
bowl  be  broken,  they  would  have  emerged  in 
spirit  from  the  waters  of  death  into  the  joy  of 
their  Lord.  But  we  have  painful  reason  to 
believe  that  they  are,  in  a  vast  proportion, 
unacquainted  with  these  hopes:  and  "the 
ungodly  are  not  so,  but  are  like  the  chaff 
which  the  wind  driveth  away."  Let  us  praise 
God  that  there  are  deHghtful  exceptions  j 
mariners  who  have  learned  the  grace  of  the 
Gospel ;  who  have  praised  the  Eedeemer  and 
prayed  to  him  amidst  the  storms  of  every  sea ; 
men  whose  voices  have  joined  in  the  praises 
of  God's  people ;  and  who  have  rallied  under 
the  most  blessed  of  all  flags,  on  which  they 
•have  loved  to  read,  in  the  language  common 
to  all  saints,  BETHEL,  "the  house  of  God." 
Btt  these  are  the  very  persons  who  will  most 
readily  acknowledge,  in  all  sadness,  that  the 
majority  of  their  brethren  are  of  a  different 
stamp.  The  character  of  the  seaman  is  more 
marked  than  that  of  most  other  classes,  be- 
200 


HELP  THE   SEAMAN. 

cause  the  influences  whicli  go  to  form  it  are 
more  exclusive,  constant,  and  uninterrupted. 
The  very  disposition  whicli  leads  the  youth- 
ful mind  to  seek  the  adventures  of  the  sea  is 
not  unfrequently  one  of  hazardous  excitability. 
And  no  sooner  has  he  bid  adieu  to  his  native 
land,  than  he  falls  under  the  concentrated  in- 
fluence of  causes  which,  in  ninety-nine  out  a 
hundred  instances,  mould  the  nature.  Absence 
from  homej  for  such  long  periods,  and  during 
the  better  part  of  life,  is  a  potent  agency. 
The  sea  has  no  firesides ;  no  quiet  evenings  ; 
no  domestic  charms ;  no  smile  of  the  sister, 
the  daughter,  the  mother;  none  of  the  hu- 
manizing influence  of  the  gentler  sex.  Man 
is  a  foe  to  man  when  these  kindly  agencies 
are  wanting.  I  do  not  believe  it  possible  for 
a  great  number  of  our  sex  to  be  thrown  to- 
gether for  long  periods,  whether  in  a  convent, 
a  prison,  or  a  ship,  without  some  moral  hard- 
ening. Seamen  may  be  said  to  receive  all  the 
formative  influences  from  one  another;  and 
this  at  a  distance  from  all  the  varied  methods 
of  instruction  which,  even  unobserved,  are 
perpetually  operating  at  home.  And  then, 
who  can  estimate  the  power  of  this  single 
peculiarity  in  their  situation — that  they  have 
201 


HELP  THE  SEAMAN. 

no  Sabbath/  "When  the  ten  thousands  of 
Israel  are  going  np,  one  day  in  seven,  to  ap- 
pear before  God,  in  the  beauty  of  holiness, 
the  mariner  on  the  waste  ocean,  even  though 
he  be  a  disciple,  lacks  all  memorial  of  holy 
time.  With  the  greater  part  this  sacred  day 
has  dropped  out  of  the  calendar.  To  measure 
the  operation  of  this  single  cause,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  consider  all  the  unspeakable 
blessings  of  the  Lord's 'day,  the  solemn  wor- 
ship, the  ministry,  and  the  sacraments.  In 
the  absence  of  that  which  is  good,  the  human 
heart  without  grace  preys  on  itself.  Devotion 
needs  these  stated  props  and  aids ;  hence  di- 
vine wisdom  and  love  has  appointed  them. 
Even  private  intercourse  with  heaven  is  apt 
to  be  forgotten,  in  the  total  absence  of  public 
means:  which,  indeed,  is  one  of  the  great 
arguments  in  favor  of  the  efforts  for  which 
I  now  plead.  But  seamen  are  not  left  in 
this  innocent  neutrality.  They  influence  one 
another,  and  that  sometimes  after  a  fearful 
sort.  The  young  sailor  sometimes  finds  him- 
self, on  his  earliest  voyage,  admitted  to  a 
school  ef  vice,  with  adepts  and  veterans  for 
his  instructors.  And  when  he  sets  foot  on  a 
foreign  shore,  after  the  labors,  and  perhaps 
202 


HELP  THE  SEAMAN. 

disasters,  of  a  voyage  —  after  the  weariness 
and  disgust  consequent  on  his  exposure  and 
duress — ^it  is  no  wonder  that  he  runs  riot  in 
his  brief  liberty,  and  yields  to  the  extreme 
seductions  of  foreign  ports.  "We  have  but  to 
open  our  eyes  and  ears  to  know  the  mode  of 
life  adopted  by  sailors  in  our  port  after  return 
from  long  voyages.  The  avails  of  long  labor 
are  sometimes  squandered  in  a  night.  The 
wolves  that  raven  for  them  are  on  the  watch, 
prowling  for  the  moral  prey.  Hence  drunk- 
enness, gambling,  revelling,  and  debauchery. 
How  often  do  these  outbreaks  call  for  the  muni- 
cipal force !  How  often  does  the  wronged  and 
deluded  wretch  cry  for  justice  on  his  destroyers ! 
How  often  are  our  ears  rent  by  the  unusual 
and  heaven-daring  profaneness  of  the  throng 
of  mariners !  In  many  foreign  ports  all  the 
influences  are  disastrous.  There  is  every 
bait  to  vice,  while  there  are  no  aids  to  virtue. 
The  sharper  and  the  seducer  are  there,  but 
no  preacher  of  righteousness,  no  flag  of  gospel- 
peace.  Hence  it  is  by  no  means  wonderful, 
that,  with  the  exceptions  which  we  delight  to 
admit,  the  character  of  seamen,  as  a  class,  is 
not  such  as  to  give  us  comfort  in  the  expect- 
ation of  the  day  when  the  sea  shall  give  up 
203 


HELP  THE  SEAMAN. 

the  dead  wliich  are  in  it.  Multitudes  have 
gone  down  to  that  death  with  all  their  sins 
upon  their  heads.  Having  lived  contrary  to 
God,  and  brutalized  themselves  hj  passionate 
indulgence,  they  have  sunk  without  hope. 
And  oh !  is  there  not  a  reason  here  why  we 
should  be  using  renewed  exertions  to  cover 
the  dangerous  seas  with  Christian  seamen  ? 

lY.  Consider  the  neglect  with  which  the 
dead  that  are  in  the  sea  have  been  allowed  to 
go  down  into  its  depths.  Neglect  of  indivi- 
duals or  classes  is  to  be  measured  with  some 
reference  to  their  importance  and  value. 
"Were  the  seamen  who  are  daily  perishing  in 
the  waters  an  idle,  unprofitable,  burdensome 
generation,  we  might  perhaps  let  them  drop 
away  with  less  blame.  But  they  sustain  the 
trade  of  the  world.  Whatsoever  is  meant  by 
that  pregnant  word,  Commerce,  involves  the 
toils  and  dangers  of  thousands  of  mariners. 
To  neglect  them  is  to  cast  from  us  the  very 
instrument  by  which  the  gains  of  merchandise 
are  acquired.  The  useful  products,  and  the 
almost  necessary  luxuries,  which  are  ex- 
changed between  continents  and  islands,  are 
borne  on  their  arms.  The  sails  that  fan  all 
climates  are  guided  by  their  sinews.  There 
204 


HELP  THE  SEAMAN. 

is  not  a  delicacy  or  an  ornament  of  commerce, 
tliere  is  not  a  wonder  of  art,  there  is  n'ot  a 
transmarine  medicine,  tliere  is  not  a  transport- 
ation of  Christian  mercy,  nor  a  visit  of  holy 
friendship  and  affection,  which  is  not  in  some 
sort  intrusted  to  the  hardy  seaman  whom  we 
neglect.  And  when  he  cfe,  far  from  sight 
of  land,  he  dies  in  the  hard  service  of  a  civil- 
ization and  refinement  which  use  him,  and 
abandon  him.  The  soldiers  of  the  earth  are 
many;  but  we  can  do  without  them.  The 
day,  we  trust,  is  hastening  on,  which  shall 
render  obsolete  their  trade  of  blood.  But  the 
sailor  we  can  not  do  without.  The  more 
peace,  the  more  commerce.  The  progress  of 
every  science  and  art  tends  to  bring  a  greater 
throng  into  this  highway  of  nations.  And 
the  Gospel  itself,  as  it  begins  to  expand  itself 
more  largely  over  the  earth,  will  claim  for 
itself  a  Christianized  seamanship,  to  disperse 
the  word  and  the  ministry  of  God  among  all 
nations.  Mariners  are  then  indispensable ; 
yet  these  are  they  whom  we  have  neglected. 
The  sin  lies  at  the  door  of  Christendom.  The 
son  who  leaves  the  maternal  threshold  to 
traverse  the  earth,  is  the  one  who  should  be 
famished  with  means  of  life.  But  the  Church 
205 


HELP  THE   SEAMAN. 

has  seen  her  children  going  abroad  over  all 
waters,  and  yet  has  done  but  little,  and  even 
that  little  but  lately,  for  the  spiritual  good  of 
the  seaman.  How  long  was  it  before  Christ- 
ian watchmen  even  missed  the  sailor  from 
church-assemblies  ?  -  How  long  before  means 
were  used  to  furnish  his  sea-chest  with  the 
Bible  ?  How  long  before  a  Bethel-flag  was 
hoisted,  or  a  Bethel-chapel  built  ?  While  we 
bless  God  for  what  has  been  done,  and  for 
the  encouragement  we  have  to  proceed,  we 
can  not  but  bewail  the  absolute  destitution  of 
the  vast  body  of  mariners.  Immense  portions 
of  the  Christian  world  take  no  cognizance  of 
them  as  immortal  beings.  Congregations 
send  up  prayers,  for  years,  without  remem- 
bering those  whose  business  is  in  the  great 
waters.  And  the  consequence  is,  that,  al- 
though no  field  of  effort  has  yielded  more 
fruit  in  proportion  to  labor  bestowed,  yet  so 
vast  is  the  amount  to  be  compassed,  that  the 
great  mass  is  not  reached.  Neglected  mortals 
continue  to  plunge  unprepared  into  eternity. 
It  would  be  a  consolation  to  the  pallid,  shiv- 
ering seaman,  as  he  spends  his  few  last  mo- 
ments on  the  parting  timbers,  before  the  final 
plunge,  to  remember  some  word  of  promise — 
206 


HELP  THE  SEAMAN. 

some  hour  of  communion — some  message 
fi'om  Christ's  ministers — some  precious  sacra- 
ment— alas !  what  multitudes  have  none  such 
to  remember!  They  have  come  and  gone 
for  years  to  and  from  Christian  ports,  but 
they  have  found  no  Christian  privilege  there ; 
for  none  has  taken  them  by  the  hand,  or  led 
them  to  the  house  of  prayer.  A  poignant 
sense  of  this  neglect  moved  the  founders  of 
Bethel  Societies  to  begin  and  prosecute  their 
work.  They  were  willing  to  snatch,  if  possi- 
ble, from  the  double  destruction  of  soul  and 
body  in  shipwreck,  at  least  here  and  there  one 
among  the  thousands  who  mount  up  to  the 
heaven  and  go  down  again  to  the  depths,  while 
their  soul  is  melted  because  of  trouble ;  all  this 
being  but  the  beginning  of  sorrows.  Neglect 
of  such  will  appear  in  its  true  light  when  the 
sea  shall  give  up  the  dead  which  are  in  it. 

Y.  Consider  our  meeting  in  judgment 
with  the  dead  who  are  in  the  sea.  That  hour 
is  coming,  and  we  should  draw  from  it  mo- 
tives for  our  daily  conduct.  There  are  things 
which  may  or  may  not  befall  us  in  the  future ; 
but  we  must  all  stand  before  the  judgment- 
seat  of  Christ.  What  a  day  of  revelation  will 
that  be  of  all  our  neglects  and  transgressions! 
207 


HELP  THE  SEAMAN. 

and  how  little,  in  tlie  retrospect,  will  many 
of  those  things  seem,  which  now  occupy  all 
our  thoughts  and  passions!  There  is  One 
coming  who  will  say  to  some :  ''  Inasmuch  as 
ye  did  it  not  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these 
my  brethren,  ye  did  it  not  to  me."  The  hour 
hastens.  Behold  He  cometh,  and  every  eye 
shall  see  Him!  Hear  the  beloved  disciple: 
"And  I  saw  a  great  white  throne,  and  Him 
that  sat  on  it,  (the  shadowy  vagueness  of  the 
representation  only  makes  the  approaching 
cloudy  tribunal  more  fearfully  sublime,)  and 
Him  that  sat  on  it,  (no  name  is  needed,  for 
there  is  one  object  now  for  every  eye ;  and 
one  sound  reverberates  in  every  ear  and 
through  every  cavern  of  earth  and  sea,)  from 
whose  face  the  earth  and  the  heaven  fled 
away;  and  there  was  found  no  place  for 
them."  This  judgment-bar  is  awful,  is  real, 
is  approaching,  is  for  us — you  and  I  shall  be 
attracted  by  irresistible  fascination  to  that 
burning  centre,  and  form  part  of  that  count- 
less assemblage.  Sinner !  sinner !  prepare  to 
meet  thy  God !  "And  I  saw  the  dead,  small 
and  great,  stand  before  God" — before  God ! 
before  Him  from  whose  presence  heaven  and 
earth  just  now  fled.  The  dead,  in  all  their 
208 


HELP  THE   SEAMAN. 

races,  are  there ;  of  all  tribes  and  nations ;  of 
every  age,  a  ghastly  multitude  whom  no  man 
can  number.  All  graves  and  sepulchres  re 
lease  their  prisoners,  of  all  times  and  ranks, 
from  Abel  downwards,  to  stand  before  God. 
"And  the  books  were  opened;  and  another 
book  was  opened,  which  is  the  book  of  life : 
and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  those  things 
which  were  written  in  the  books,  according 
to  their  works.  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead 
which  icere  in  itP  Now  is  the  time  of  revela- 
tion frtm  the  mighty  waters.  Here  are  the 
deposits  of  solitary  disasters,  of  thousands  of 
shipwrecks,  of  vast  fleets,  and  this  through 
centuries  of  years.  The  faithful  sea  shall 
give  them  up  at  the  voice  of  the  archangel 
and  the  trump  of  God.  The  voice  that  awoke 
Lazarus  and  the  youth  of  ISTain,  and  which 
unseals  all  sepulchres,  shall  find  obedience  in 
the  seas.  Ko  matter  what  the  variety  of  life 
or  death,  there  shall  be  one  rising  again,  to 
look  upon  the  face  of  God.  How  gladly 
would  some  call  on  rocks  and  mountains  to 
cover  them ;  or  seek  a  deeper  plunge  into  the 
concealment  of  the  ocean !  but  no — 

"  Seas  cast  the  monsters  forth  to  meet  their  doom, 
And  rocks  but  prison  up  for  wrath  to  come.'-' 

Young. 
209 


HELP  THE  SEAMAN. 


LORD,   HEAR    THE    SEAMAN'S    CRY  I 

Awaked  from  gentlest  midnight  sleep, 

I  hear  the  howling  blast, 
The  chamber  rocks,  the  murmur  deep 

Of  ocean  rises  fast. 
The  lurid  flash,  the  thunder's  roar, 

Proclaim  the  tempest  nigh, 
And  wavering  hghts  are  off  our  shore — 

Lord,  hear  the  seaman's  cry ! 

This  hour,  perhaps,  the  sailor  thinks 
Of  wife  or  mother  far. 

As,  drenched  and  spiritless,  he  shrinlf> 
At  some  portentous  bar. 

The  cresting  foam  betokens  death. 
The  breaker's  rage  is  nigh, 

He  prays— with  quick,  redoubled  breath- 
Lord,  hear  the  seaman's  cry  1 

Ah !  many  a  youth  now  lost  in  sin, 

And  many  a  hoary  sire, 
"Who  never  prayed,  this  night  begin 

To  dread  Almighty  ire. 
In  headlong  fury,  while  the  bark 

Pierces  the  billows  high, 
They  learn  to  pray  in  anguish — Hark ! 

— ^Lord,  hear  the  seaman's  cry  I 

Though  sinking  in  the  whelming  flood 

In  sohtary  woe. 
Saviour,  thy  ever  precious  blood 

Can  reach  thy  hapless  foe. 
210 


HELP  THE   SEAMAN. 

Catch  the  faint,  smothered  voice  of  him 

Whose  penitential  sigh 
Rises  amid  the  terror  grim ; 

Lord,  hear  the  seaman's  cry  I 

Pray  for  the  sailor,  ye  who  rest 

Upon  your  curtained  bed  ; 
Pray  to  the  Power  at  whose  behest 

The  fearful  storm  hath  sped. 
And  when,  released  from  fear  and  care, 

S  weet  hours  of  night  ghde  by, 
Be  sometimes  this  your  fervent  prayer, 

Lord,  hear  the  seaman's  cry  I 

J.  W.  A. 


211 


TO    FIREMEN!' 


*  Hark  I  One  —  two — ^three — ^four — five ! 
Yes,  it  is  our  district  I  Here  it  goes — tkrow 
mj  cap  after  rae — tliere  is  not  a  moment  to  be 
lost  I'  So  cries  tlie  stout  and  gallant  young 
American,  as  lie  dashes  from  liis  door  at  dead 
of  night,  wliile  tlie  street  resounds  with  "  Fire, 
fire,  fire  I"  In  less  time  than  jou  have  taken 
to  read  these  lines,  thousands  have  poured  out, 
joined  their  respective  machines,  and  choked 
with  living  masses  the  avenues  leading  to  yon- 
der column  of  black  smoke  and  towering 
flame.  There  is  scarcely  on  earth  a  scene  of 
greater  excitement.  The  valiant  and  youthful 
soul  is  stirred  as  the  war-horse  with  the  sound 
of  the  trumpet.  Amidst  the  thick  of  the  en- 
counter, the  din,  heat,  smoke,  shock,  and 
shouting,  there  is  all  the  excitement  of  a  bat- 
tle-field without  its  blood,  and  all  the  peril  of 
an  assault  without  its  wrath  and  malice.  The 
212 


TO  firemen! 

true-liearted  fireman,  lie  who  is  urged  on  not 
by  fame,  or  pride,  or  drink,  but  bj  honor, 
duty,  and  humanity,  is  a  soldier  of  peace. 
His  perils,  darings,  and  achievements  some- 
times equal  those  of  Waterloo  or  Lucknow  ; 
but  he  seeks  to  save  not  to  destroy  life. 

Hence  it  is,  that  we  honor  the  fireman,  and 
look  to  him  as  the  brave  protector  of  our 
hearths  and  our  children.  When  we  contem- 
plate a  procession  of  these  stout-hearted  men 
and  youth,  careering  through  our  streets  on 
some  gala  day,  with  gay  appointments  and 
brilliant  equipage,  we  seem  to  behold  the  mus- 
cle and  sinew  of  our  commonwealth,  the  de- 
fenders of  our  homes,  the  sons,  and  brothers, 
and  husbands  who  would  fly  at  a  moment's 
warning  to  resist  invasion  or  quell  intestine 
violence ;  and  we  involuntarily  exclaim,  Grod 
forbid  such  hearts  should  be  the  prey  of  infi- 
dehty,  drunkenness,  or  lust  I 

It  is  a  noble  sight  to  behold  a  well-built, 
stalwart,  symmetric  human  form  flushed 
with  health  and  vigor.  And  it  is  melancholy 
to  see  such  a  figure  rendered  partially  useless 
by  the  loss  of  an  eye  or  an  arm.  But  the 
beautiful  balance  and  proportion  of  the  bodily 
frame  is  not  so  much  marred  by  the  loss  of  an 
213 


TO  FIREMEN  I 

eye  or  an  arm,  as  tlie  inward  man,  tlie  spirit- 
ual and  immortal  part,  is  disfigured  by  moral 
evil.  For  what  can  be  more  hideous  and  re- 
volting than  to  hear  words  of  lying  or  pro- 
faneness  from  Hps  of  manly  grace ;  to  see  a 
powerful  arm  prostituted  to  unlawful  vio- 
lence ;  or  to  ^witness  the  downfall  of  a  fine, 
graceful  form  into  the  kennel  of  intoxication ! 
Hear,  O  young  man,  hear  the  voice  of  a 
friend  I  The  counsel  of  the  loving  mother, 
sister,  or  wife,  in  such  a  case,  is  safest  and 
wisest.  Flee  from  the  snares  which  would 
weaken  and  cripple  your  powers  of  manhood. ' 
You  would  scorn  a  man  who  should  deny 
that  Honesty  is  the  best  policy  ;  but  do  you  not 
yourself  reject  the  equally  undeniable  truth, 
that  Holiness  is  the  highest  happiness  f  Listen 
to  the  voice  within ;  the  voice  of  reason,  of 
conscience,  and  of  the  Word ;  the  voice  of 
God  calling  you  to  true  blessedness. 

"Why  may  not  even  a  worldly  man,  as  yet 
irreligious,  be  made  to  admit  that  there  is  a 
happiness  in  noble  impulses  ?  Why  shall  he 
not  acknowledge  that  there  is  something  more 
exquisitely  pleasurable,  than  the  dance,  the 
play-house,  the  tavern,  or  the  debauch  ?  You 
know  what  we  mean  by  noble  impulses.  See 
214 


TO  firemen! 

yonder,  where  the  walls  of  that  burning 
house  are  trembling  towards  their  fall,  while 
timber  after  timber  plunges  crackhng  and 
flaming  into  the  steaming  furnace  within. 
Look,  where,  in  that  lofty  corner,  unreached 
as  yet  by  the  consuming  element,  a  figure  in 
white  madly  stretches  forth  imploring  hands, 
and  seems  to  shriek,  though  all  voice  is  swal- 
lowed up  in  the  clamors  of  the  terrible  hour. 
There !  after  baffled  attempts,  the  ladders  are 
set  and  braced.  A  brave  fellow,  amidst 
showers  and  clouds  of  smoke,  mounts,  enters, 
seizes  that  fainting  daughter,  bears  her  on  his 
shoulders,  just  in  time  to  clear  the  sinking 
ruin  that  thunders  with  a  crash,  and  among 
acclamations  of  sympathy  and  praise,  gives 
the  rescued  maiden  into  a  father's  arms.  Such 
events  are  the  glory  of  the  fire  department ; 
and  for  one  who  actually  achieves  such  a  dis- 
tinction, there  are  a  hundred  who  would  at- 
tempt it  or  desire  it.  Now,  who  hesitates  for 
a  moment  to  pronounce  the  delight  and  trans- 
port of  this  generous  and  heroic  young  man 
to  be  immeasurably  greater  than  that  of  a 
hundred  gains,  and  a  hundred  frohcs  ?  This  is 
what  we  mean  by  noble  impulses.  And  it 
shows  how  much  soul-pleasures,  heart -pleas- 
215 


TO   FIREMEN! 

sures,  true  manlj  pleasures,  surpass  the  joys 
of  the  body  and  of  sense.  But  there  are 
other,  and  even  higher  impulses  of  the  noble 

soul ;   AND  THEY  ARE  TO  BE  FOUND  IN  EeLI- 

GION.  Yes,  that  Christianity  from  which  you 
have  perhaps  turned  away  as  from  a  dull,  sour, 
long-faced,  wearisome  thing,  wakes  up  souls 
to  these  higher  impulses  and  joys.  If  there 
are  some  who  would  rather  seek  money  and 
amusement  than  go  to  church ;  so  there  are 
some  who  would  rather  sit  at  low  revels,  with 
beer  and  cards,  than  risk  life  and  limb  to  save 
a  fellow-creature.  But  your  soul  despises 
them;  and  you  say:  "Give  me  the  nobler 
pleasure."  Ay,  say  further:  "Grive  me  the 
noblest  I  Give  me  the  love  of  a  divine  Sav- 
iour, and  the  love  of  my  fellow-men  for  His 
sake !" 

The  other  day  a  fireman,  who  fell  at  his 
post,  was  carried  forth  to  burial.  Sudden 
death  is  no  unusual  event  in  these  ranks.  But 
men  who  walk  so  near  the  flaming  brink  of 
danger  should  be  prepared.  Every  stroke  of 
the  fire-bell,  when  it  booms  through  the  still- 
ness of  night,  should  syllable  these  words: 
Prepare  to  meet  thy  God  I  Cast  from  you 
the  unreasonable  and  unscriptural  belief,  that 
216 


TO  firemen! 

all  men  go  straight  to  glory  when  they  die. 
It  was  not  the  priests,  but  the  blessed  Jesus, 
meek,  and  lowly,  and  loving,  who  spake  of 
the  "  unquenchable  fire."^  Take  up  your  ne- 
glected Bible,  and  see  if  this  is  not  so.  Do 
not  rush  on  blindly,  in  voluntary  ignorance, 
but  place  yourself  in  the  light.  On  this 
topic,  as  on  others,  respect  the  judgment  of 
those  who  have  given  it  most  attention.  Seize 
the  first  opportunity  of  going  to  the  house  of 
God,  and  keep  up  the  habit.  Compare  what 
is  there  taught  with  what  you  read  in  the 
Bible.  Try  to  find  out  whether  there  is  not 
something  real  in  the  attractions  which  have 
urged  into  a  religious  life  some  of  the  purest, 
loveliest,  and  bravest  of  the  human  race. 
Brother  fireman,  do  not  be  duped  by  men  who 
say  that  religion  is  for  women  and  cowards  ; 
but  read  a  little  about  CoL.  Gardiner,  and 
IIkdley  Yickars,  and  Henry  Havelock. 
Can  any  of  your  scoffing  friends  live  more 
bravely  or  die  more  happily  ?  Oh  !  if  you 
would  have  their  prize,  follow  their  foot- 
steps. 

You  have,  it  may  be,  enjoyed  the  instruc- 
tions of  a  pious  mother.     The  memory  of  a 

1  Matt.  3  :  12  ;   Mnrk  9  :  43  ;  Luke  3  :  17. 
217 


TO  firem:en"  I 

mother  comes  with  power  over  a  brave  man's 
heart ;  it  is  a  manly  tear  which  he  sheds  over 
her  grave.  Do  yoa  believe  she  was  sincere  ? 
Then  follow  the  path  which  her  gentle  wis- 
dom long  ago  pointed  out.  Let  her  Saviour 
be  your '  Saviour,'  and  her  God  your  God. 
Dread  an  everlasting  separation  from  her,  and 
from  all  the  holy,  aud  from  Jesus  Cuxist,  at 
the  Day  of  Judgment. 

Eeader  I  Despise  not  this  gentle  pressure 
of  a  friendly  hand.  Eeceive  the  affectionate 
advice  of  these  pages.  You  are  a  guilty  and 
perishing  sinner ;  and  you  know  it.  But  Je- 
sus Christ  offers  you  pardon  and  salvation. 
Eepent  and  believe  the  Gospel.  Accept  the 
message  of  one  who  had  been  before  a  blas- 
phemer, and  a  persecutor,  and  injurious : 
"  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all 
acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners  ;  of  whom  I  am  chief." 


-218 


TO  FIREMEN". 

THY    FATHER    SEES. 
From  the  Germa  i  of  Ch.  K.  L.  von  PfeiU 

TiiY  Father  sees  !     Be  on  thy  guard : 
Tliy  Father  hears  !     Be  still : 

Thy  Father  conies,  oh !  stand  prepared 
To  learn  his  holy  will. 

The  Lord  of  Liglit  tliou  canst  not  see, 
Thougli  day  and  night  most  near ; 

Keep  thou  his  Word  perpetually, 
And  say,  "  My  God  is  here !" 

Whatever  word  thou  wouldst  not  say, 
Whatever  work  wouldit  shun, 

If  God  were  by  thee,  clear  as  day — 
Leave  thou  unsaid,  undone. 

And  if  in  danger  or  distress, 
Thy  youthful  heart  be  brought, 

Believe,  with  constant  hopefulness. 
That  God  forsakes  thee  not. 

Know  that  whatever  can  displease, 
And  what  thy  joy  has  marred, 

Each  care  and  want  and  woe  he  see3 
With  fatherly  regard. 

To  him  in  faith  forever  cleave. 

As  if  thou  saw'st  him  nigh  ; 
In  trust  that  he  will  never  leave 

The  souls  that  to  him  fly. 

Say  to  him,  child,  "  My  Master,  see 

Us  children,  in  distress; 
To  thee,  0  Father,  we  our  plea 

In  life  and  death  address." 

219 


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